Plenković rules out mandatory blanket vaccination
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday that definitely there would be no compulsory vaccination against COVID-19 and that the government wanted to encourage as many citizens as possible to get vaccinated.
During his visit to the northern city of Čakovec, Plenković said that the purpose of the discussions about vaccination was to show how important it was to be immunised.
So far every one in two adults (50%) in the European Union has received two jabs of COVID-19 vaccines, and in Croatia there are 46% of citizens having received a dose, with more and more Croatians receiving the second dose.
He added that the discussions were being conducted about the mandatory vaccination in some sectors, for instance in the healthcare sector.
In this context he recalled that 80% of doctors had been vaccinated while nurses and other staff had somewhat lower percentage, "but we can see headway," Plenković added.
Also nursing homes and homes for senior citizens are likely to be supposed to have vaccinated staff.
Third sector mentioned in this sector is education and schools.
"There are various mechanisms to encourage people to get vaccinated. We are considering a set of measures. It is good that we have made a clear distinction between wages and grants, and I think that all have realised it. In the end, it is down to the state authorities to provide the citizens with health, and all other stakeholders in the society are supposed to contribute to this aim," the premier said