The first inoculations with AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine in Croatia were administered in Sibenik on Tuesday, with ten persons receiving that vaccine while another ten were given Moderna's jabs during immunisation organised in the coastal city's health centre.

All 20 persons were older than 65 and patients with chronic conditions.

Four-hundred doses of the AstraZeneca and 200 of the Moderna vaccine arrived at the Sibenik-Knin County Public Health Institute yesterday and were distributed to local health centres.

Local epidemiologist Ankica Parat-Baljkas said the Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines were all “quality vaccines,” adding that the AstraZeneca vaccine offered “60 to 70% protection from getting sick, but in 100% of cases it protects from grave conditions and death, as do all other vaccines.”

Until now Croats have been inoculated against Covid-19 with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The first batch of vaccines developed by Moderna arrived in Croatia in mid-January, while Zagreb took over the first 9,750 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on 26 December.