Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a government session on Thursday that the decline in the number of new coronavirus infections was continuing and that the process of vaccination was picking up.

“The number of new infections is half the number of three weeks ago while the vaccination process is gaining momentum. By the end of the day close to 29 percent of the adult population will have received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and by the end of the week their number will exceed one million,” he said.

“If we continue at the current pace, we will definitely achieve the set target and have 50-55 percent of adults vaccinated by 30 June,” he said.

Croatia has a population of around four million, including about 3.3 million adults.

“The coronavirus crisis has so far cost Croatia 32 billion kuna (€4.2 billion), which is around 20 percent of the state budget, while damage caused by last year’s earthquakes has been estimated at 129 billion kuna (€17.1 billion),” Plenkovic said.

Health Minister, Vili Beros, said in the session that 8 percent of the adult population so far had received both vaccine doses, i.e. they are considered fully vaccinated

“A total of 1,571,650 vaccine doses have arrived in Croatia so far, more than 46,000 doses were administered on Wednesday, and since the start of the vaccination campaign, more than 1,230,000 doses have been administered,” said Beros.

“Points for mass-scale vaccination are an indicator that the Croatian health system is well organized and efficient,” Beros said, thanking all medical personnel and volunteers on the ground.

(€1 = 7.53 kuna)