In the past seven days, there have been over 48,600 new cases of infection with coronavirus in Croatia, which is the highest weekly caseload since the outbreak of the pandemic, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told his cabinet on Thursday.

This is twice as high as two weeks ago, he added. The Covid-related death toll exceeds 13,000.

“This fact is important to highlight against the backdrop of the slowing daily rate of inoculation. From early March to the end of May 2021, 1.14 million persons were given a shot. Since then, less than a million have been given the first dose,” the premier said.

Commenting on vaccine hesitancy, Plenkovic said that it was detrimental to unvaccinated people, particularly those who had caught the virus and died of the infection.

Better protection against the virus can be ensured provided there is a combination of higher vaccination rates, booster doses and compliance with Covid protocols, he said, adding that the government had made sure that there were enough amounts of vaccines for all.

He reiterated the importance of immunization in light of the fast spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant of coronavirus.

Croatia has logged 9,157 new Covid cases and 23 related deaths in the past 24 hours, with the latest infections putting the number of active cases at 55,500, the national Covid-19 response team said earlier today.