The European Commission will in future be authorised for the purchase and distribution of the Pfizer vaccine, the head of the Zagreb-based Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Alemka Markotic, said on Friday, adding that Zagreb will be one of the centres included in producing DNA templates.

That means that only mRNA vaccines will be used in the EU, not because the AstraZeneca vaccine is not of a good quality but to ensure secure production and the possibility of responding quickly to new variants of the virus given that a vaccine can be produced within 100 days, said Markotic.

In addition to a high level of antibodies that remain for about six months, it is worthwhile developing cell immunity, which need not be the case with certain vaccines, she added.

“In 2022 and 2023, Zagreb will be one of the centres that will be included in the phase of producing DNA templates, which is important for Croatia’s tradition and for Zagreb regarding the production of vaccines,” Markotic said.