Slovenia COVID-19 Employer Resources

The national COVID-19 vaccination strategy has been updated

According to Minister Poklukar, the basic objective of the vaccination strategy is to reduce mortality due to COVID-19, improve citizens’ health by preventing the severe course of the coronavirus disease in individuals, unburden the health system, kick-start the economy and restore education, transport, cultural and social life, and other activities which were restricted due to the crisis.

Priority vaccination groups have been defined anew or in more detail in the strategy and certain new vaccination locations. It is mandatory to first vaccinate those population groups who are at the highest risk of a severe course of the disease and death due to COVID-19 and then achieve the highest possible vaccination coverage of at least 60 per cent, i.e. 1,200,000 citizens, as soon as possible. Furthermore, the possibility of storing vaccines, currently waiting on the completion of the registration procedure at the European Medicines Agency (EMA), was also defined.

Priority vaccination groups include persons above 80, then 75 and 70 years of age. These will be followed by a group of particularly vulnerable chronic patients irrespective of their age. Next in line are the diplomats and employees of ministries who travel abroad due to Slovenia’s forthcoming EU Presidency and members of the Slovenian Armed Forces deployed abroad. The next group comprises persons above the age of 65, followed by employees in childcare and education. This group also includes deputies of the National Assembly, the Government, and representatives of the National Council and the Constitutional Court, followed by chronic patients aged between 18 and 64, the age group of persons above 60 years, employees in critical infrastructure and then the rest of the population.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is intended for the age group of 18 to 64 years of age and has already been offered to this age group irrespective of the priority groups. The strategy defines 61 vaccination centres, of which 13 are in hospitals and the Slovenian Armed Forces have one vaccination centre. Information about vaccinating different groups which are not compliant with the strategy, e.g. first year medical students, elderly citizens above 60 years of age, etc., has been disseminated to the public. All such cases will be discussed by the inspectors. The designated 60-per cent immunisation rate has been defined as the minimum necessary to attain the level at which the spread of the epidemic would be sufficiently limited. A new contract was concluded with Pfizer in recent days, on the basis of which Slovenia will receive more than 300,000 additional doses of vaccine in the second quarter. Slovenia will not be purchasing vaccine on its own from manufacturers with whom the EU has concluded agreements and it will also not purchase vaccine from other manufacturers outside the EU.