The BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus are probably already dominant in Croatia, but no restrictions are necessary at this point because they cause relatively mild symptoms, Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) director Krunoslav Capak said on Tuesday.

Speaking in an interview with the Croatian public broadcaster HRT, Capak said that the two subvariants were more contagious than previous ones and that COVID-19 numbers were increasing worldwide. He said that persons infected with the new subvariants exhibited relatively mild symptoms and that not many people were hospitalised and placed on ventilators.

Capak said that the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants accounted for more than 30 per cent of COVID-19 cases already in the second week of June. “They are spreading very fast and are probably already dominant in Croatia, even though we do not have sequencing results yet. The results for the third week of June are expected to come in today.”

Even though the disease is mostly mild, Capak called on people to exercise caution, get vaccinated and adhere to epidemiological measures. “People are well advised to wear face masks whenever they are in a crowd,” he said, warning of large gatherings where people wear no protection and do not keep a safe distance.

“At this point it is hard to say what will happen with vaccination,” Capak said. He added that in the coming days the European Medicines Agency was likely to register a Pfizer vaccine containing the Omicron variant.

“We will begin a vaccination campaign for new variants in the autumn,” Capak announced.

He spoke of cases where people displayed symptoms similar to COVID-19 several months after recovering from COVID-19.

This disease is called post-COVID or long COVID, and in 99 percent of such cases a swab is not positive, although that is possible as well. “Most often they are not positive. They cannot be diagnosed with a swab, but with a thorough medical examination,” Capak said, adding that 25,000 such cases had been recorded in the first five months of this year.

He said that people with post-COVID had problems with concentration and could not recall certain experiences or names. “These are problems with cognition, intelligence and quick problem solving, also known as brain fog,” Capak said.