The percentage of Croatia's population who have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine will surpass 50 percent today, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday.

The prime minister said the vaccine protects people from the most severe consequences of COVID-19, backing up his claim with the fact that 80% of those who died of the infection over the past several months were not vaccinated.

The remaining 20% of the fatalities were patients with many underlying conditions, he added.

“Today we will have more than 50% of the population vaccinated with the first dose, which is good, but unfortunately slower than we thought and expected,” Plenkovic said at the start of the regular cabinet session.

The government believed the interest in getting vaccinated would be higher, he said, expressing hope that after the the summer, the number of those inoculated would grow.