Mass vaccination of the general population is to start on Monday in Rijeka, or more precisely vaccination of those aged over 65 and chronic patients who have opted for that most effective protection, Jutarnji List daily said on Wednesday.

Head of the Teaching Institute of Public Health of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Vladimir Micovic, said that COVID vaccination centres throughout the city had already been prepared, as well as in county offices in Delnice, Opatija, Crikvenica and on Cres, Krk, Lošinj and Rab.

He said that family doctors have to provide lists of their patients who had applied for vaccination so that they could get an appointment and avoid crowds due to epidemiological measures. According to him, 400 to 500 could be vaccinated daily at each centre in Rijeka, and possibly more if enough doses of the vaccine arrive.

Head of Zagreb City Office for Health, Vjekoslav Jelec, also confirmed that mass vaccination of the general population would start next week in the capital since vaccination in retirement homes and for health workers was nearing completion. He said that the speed of vaccination would depend on the amount of vaccine that arrives in Croatia.

He said that in the beginning, vaccination would be organised in health centre offices, and if the announced quantities of the vaccine arrive once the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine is registered, special centres would be organised to vaccinate as many citizens as possible in the shortest amount of time possible.

In Zagreb, a detailed vaccination rollout plan for the general population is still in preparation, as well as centres where the vaccination would be conducted. Initially, Zagreb Fair was considered, as were some sports halls, where it is possible to vaccinate a large number of people without spreading coronavirus.

When organising vaccination, Jutarnji List said, care must be taken that a pre-symptomatic patient, who can also be infectious, or an asymptomatic patient could come to vaccination.