"We must comply with the basic protection measures - wearing a face mask, keeping a distance, airing the premises and maintaining hand hygiene," Plenković said at the start of a cabinet meeting.
He stressed the importance and necessity of vaccination, especially for elderly people, noting that the elderly are at a greater risk if they contract COVID-19. "One in four elderly persons aged 65 and over has not been vaccinated yet, and we are talking about 238,000 persons, or about 25-27 percent."
Plenković warned that the COVID-19 death toll will soon exceed 9,000. "This is a high price we are paying as a nation and society. ... But now we have vaccines, and there is no reason for this number to be so high," the prime minister said, adding that the vaccines also effectively protect against serious forms of the disease.
He appealed to people who have still not been vaccinated to get vaccinated, citing the views of medical professionals and the government's Scientific Council as well as statistics.
74 percent of hospitalised COVID patients not vaccinated
Plenković said that 74 percent of infected people who have been hospitalised this month were not vaccinated, which is three in four patients, while 80 percent of patients who were or still are on ventilators were not vaccinated, which is four in five.
"These are very clear and convincing figures," Plenković said, noting that 93 percent of the people who died from coronavirus were above the age of 60 and 98 percent were above the age of 50.
He said that the Scientific Council, which met two days ago, stressed the importance of vaccination, especially for the elderly.
"We all agree with the view of the Croatian Public Health Institute on a third dose, that it should be administered to immunocompromised persons and to health and welfare workers, because it will help in the fight against the epidemic," the prime minister said.
He said that the situation in Croatia is similar to the rest of the world. "The unvaccinated people represent a pool where the virus spreads the most and where mutations occur the most. It's a fact that vaccinated people can also transmit the virus, but that is less likely than among the unvaccinated, and in the case of infection the disease is much milder."
Text: Hina