Croatia registered an 11% increase in the number of new COVID cases last week and 78.8% of these cases were people who were not vaccinated, the head of the Croatian Publich Health Institute (HZJZ), Krunoslav Capak, told a press conference on Friday.

The share of positive cases among those tested today was 15%, Capak said.

Over the past week, 72% of hospitalised patients were not vaccinated and the percentage of unvaccinated people who died was 77.4%, he added.

Review of fatal cases as of Monday

Capak announced that a review of fatal cases would begin on Monday to differentiate deaths from COVID and deaths with COVID.

“All deaths will be registered with the HZJZ and unclear cases will be reviewed to determine whether the death was caused by COVID or something else,” he said.

Head of Zagreb’s Infectious Diseases Hospital Alemka Markotic said that although the EU average vaccination rollout is 79.2%, that only relates to adults who have received one dose.

“There is still a large pool of children. The ECED (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control) notes that the minimum is for 75% of the total population in Europe to be vaccinated for us to be able to control the virus from spreading any further,” said Markotic.

Pfizer vaccine likely to be approved in November for children from 5 to 11

In that regard, she said the European Medicines Agency will probably approve the Pfizer vaccine in November for children aged between 5 to 11.

She added that EMA is expected to publish next week a decision on a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine for the elderly, health workers and people with other health conditions.

The press conference in particular focused on the introduction of mandatory COVID certificates in healthcare and social services as of 4 October.

Minister of Social Policy Josip Aladrovic said that the social care system is prepared to introduce this temporary measure in order to maintain the health of beneficiaries and employees.

Asked how long employees will be able to be tested for free, Aladrović did not respond directly and just said that the measure is aimed at “popularising vaccination,” adding the sufficient funds for testing would be ensured through a 2021 budget revision.

COVID certificates do not impose mandatory vaccination

The head of the national COVID response team, Davor Bozinovic, commented on mandatory COVID certificates being introduced in Slovenia, underscoring that it is incorrect to connect certificates with mandatory vaccination.

Certificates are an informative tool that proves someone’s epidemiological status. The key is to increase trust in science instead of people being informed via social networks and organising protests against something that doesn’t exist, said Bozinovic.