Croatia recognizes China's COVID-19 vaccines

Croatia's Civil Protection Headquarters announced eight new decisions on Thursday, including the issuance of European Union (EU) digital COVID-19 certificates to those vaccinated with Chinese and Russian vaccines, despite the fact that these have yet to be approved by the EU.

Since the spring of this year, those who have been administered the Chinese and Russian vaccines could enter Croatia, and as of Thursday, no distinction is made between the vaccines registered in the EU and those used in China and the Russian Federation, the agency said.

All those who have received the Chinese vaccine can now get a COVID-19 certificate that allows them to enter and leave Croatia, it said.

Moreover, the validity of a COVID-19 certificate in Croatia is now automatically extended from 270 to 365 days.

Starting next Monday, all employees in the health and social care sectors will have to have a COVID-19 certificate to enter the country's health facilities. Those without a certificate will have to get tested twice a week.

In the past 24 hours, 1,710 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Croatia and 12 people have died, according to media reports.