STA, 12 May 2021 - The Health Ministry and the National Institute for Public Health (NIJZ) told the STA on Wednesday that the vaccination of children and adolescents in Slovenia would start when the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gives its approval.

"We are currently waiting for the EMA's opinion on whether the vaccine is suitable for the age group of over 12 years. Once this is approved, we will start to promote vaccination in primary and secondary schools as well," said Mateja Logar, head of the ministry's advisory group on Covid-19.

On Monday, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the emergency use of Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine for teenagers aged 12 to 15 years. This is the first vaccine in the US to be licensed for this age group.

EMA executive director Emer Cooke told several European newspapers on Tuesday that Pfizer's vaccine could be approved for the 12-15 age group in the EU later this month, although initially this was expected by June. She said that they were still waiting for data from a clinical study carried out in Canada.

STA, 11 May 2021 - Three-quarters of respondents in a survey supported by the pollster Valicon and the Covid-19 tracker community are somewhat worried about the epidemic, but almost half are still unwilling to be vaccinated. The main reason for people's reluctance to be vaccinated is fear of possible side effects.

The survey was carried out by three Slovenian researchers in collaboration with a team of Polish, Hungarian and Romanian researchers. The key findings for Slovenia were published on the Covid-19 tracker's website.

Almost 37% of respondents say they will be vaccinated against Covid-19 if the vaccine is available and recommended, while 47% say they will not, and 16% are undecided.

Out of those who do not want to be vaccinated, more than 80% says this is because they are "at least somewhat" concerned about the unknown side effects of vaccines.

Almost as many think that vaccination may cause issues that may not yet have been detected, while about two-thirds believe that vaccines can cause unforeseen problems in children.

Almost two-thirds think that vaccines bring large profits to pharmaceutical companies while having no positive effects on ordinary people, and that authorities promote vaccination for profit rather than people's health.

Just over 50% agree with the claim that there is much deception related to the vaccination programmes.

Only a quarter of the vaccinated participants agree that they feel safe after the vaccination, while a third confirmed that they feel protected. Just over a third believe that vaccines will stop serious infectious diseases.

When asked to rate their vaccine preferences, over two-thirds chose the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, two-thirds chose Moderna, followed by Sputnik with 57% and J&J with 52%, while only 31% chose AstraZeneca.

Concerns about possible side-effects is a major discouraging factor for more than 80% of respondents, while over 75% are concerned about vaccine safety. For two-thirds of respondents, the main concern is that the vaccine is new and they would like to see how vaccines work in other people first.

Just over 60% of respondents said they did not trust the government to ensure the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, while just over half believe that the vaccine will not work.

The data was collected between 16 and 23 April among 1,042 participants.

STA, 10 May 2021 - Slovenia's vaccination rollout is expected to gather momentum on Monday as jabs become available to adults under 50 years of age, while older and more vulnerable will continue to take priority.

Mass vaccination for all adults comes after a nation-wide vaccination booking app was launched last week to make the rollout run more smoothly. Roughly 31,000 people registered in less than two days.

Data released by the National Institute of Public Health on Sunday show that nearly half a million or nearly a quarter of Slovenia's population have received the first Covid-19 jab with roughly half of them or 12% already fully vaccinated.

Related: Conditions Almost Met for Slovenia to Enter Yellow Tier

Urging people to get vaccinated for their own sake and the sake of others, Prime Minister Janez Janša said on his Twitter profile last week that enough vaccines would be secured for everyone by summer.

The goal is to fully vaccinate at least 60% of the population to achieve herd immunity. NIJZ data show the rate for both doses has only been achieved in the 80-84 age group, while 60% or more have received the first dose among those aged 70 to 79 and 85 to 89.

"In the supplies are as planned, it is possible to have 60% of the adult population vaccinated by the end of June," Mateja Logar, the government's chief Covid-19 adviser, said earlier this month.

Jelko Kacin, the national coordinator for vaccination logistics, says this month Slovenia expects deliveries of at least 450,000 doses of the four Covid-19 vaccines so far approved in the EU.

Related: Further Easing of Restrictions for Bars, Restaurants, Hotels on Monday (But Not for Everyone)

However, as the issue of supplies appears to be largely resolved, vaccine hesitancy and aversion may prove to be more of a problem.

To boost public trust in the vaccines, Health Minister Janez Poklukar received a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine in front of the cameras on Friday, after he got over Covid-19 in the autumn.

As vaccination is being opened to under 50s, Bojana Beović, the head of the national advisory committee on immunisation, says vaccination tiers will still be observed, with those first in line to be invited to get a jab if those higher up the list do not turn up.

Taking into account those recovered, she believes herd immunity could be reached within two months.

NIJZ data show Slovenia has recorded more than 246,000 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, which corresponds to roughly 12% of Slovenia's population.

Where Can I Get a COVID Test or Vaccine in Slovenia?

See here for the list of testing sites, with links to your local health centre (ZD - zdravstveni dom), where you should also be able to register for a vaccination

STA, 9 May 2021 - Slovenia has all but met the conditions to move to tier yellow of coronavirus restrictions as hospitalisations have fallen below 500 and the 7-day average fell to 614, just 14 above the threshold.

Government data show that 289 coronavirus cases were confirmed on Saturday from 2,406 PCR tests, for a positivity rate of 12%. A total of 8,215 people were screened with rapid antigen tests.

The number of patients hospitalised with Covid-19 fell to 498 after 28 were discharged yesterday. 128 were in intensive case units this morning, one fewer than yesterday.

What do the different tiers mean? Find out here...

With hospitalisations below 500, the country has met one of the two conditions to move from orange to yellow tier of restrictions. The 7-day average of new cases still needs to fall below 600.

In another encouraging piece of news, data from the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) show the number of estimated active cases has fallen below 9,000, at 8,980.

The cumulative 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents declined to 425, down six from the day before.

Slovenia has so far confirmed 246,084 coronavirus cases, according to NIJZ, while Health Ministry data show that 4,595 patients with Covid-19 have died.

According to NIJZ data, 482,035 people have received the first dose of a vaccine against Covid-19 and 251,755 have received two, which represents 23% and 12% of the population, respectively.

STA, 8 May 2021 - Bars and restaurants will be allowed to serve guests indoors across the country and large hotels will be able to offer half their rooms to guests from Monday as part of an easing of restrictions in tourism and hospitality amidst a gradually improving epidemiological situation.

Only guests who have been fully vaccinated, have had Covid-19 in the past six months or have a negative test no older than 48 hours are allowed to be served indoors, the government decided yesterday.

All other restrictions remain in place, including the requirements on the number of people per table and distance among chairs and tables. Like before, establishments may be open from 7am to 7pm.

In the tourism industry, the existing rule where establishments were only allowed to operate up to 30 rooms has been changed and half the rooms may be put to use. Smaller operators with under 60 rooms may use 30.

For establishments offering self-catering apartments, the restriction does not apply at all since they are considered self-contained units where people do not mix.

Hotels and other accommodation facilities reopened at the end of April, but many large hotels in particular chose to remain closed because it was not economical for them to offer only up to 30 rooms to guests.

The industry has been calling on the government to further ease restrictions given that the epidemiological situation is gradually improving. Businesses also argued they can comply with all public health rules even when the number of guests is higher.

Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek said yesterday that business chambers had endorsed the changes at a meeting with the government, while the trade union of employees in tourism opposed them.

The Alpine resort of Kranjska Gora welcomed the changes announced during yesterday's visit by Počivalšek as well, but the head of Turizem Kranjska Gora, Blaž Veber, said the opening of borders with Austria and Italy was even more important, as the majority of guests come from the two countries.

Last year, the season was saved by Slovenian guests using tourist vouchers, while the outlook for this year is much worse, as both demand and bookings are lower than last year, Veber said.

STA, 4 May 2021 - Bojana Beović, the head of the national advisory committee on immunisation, has said it would soon make sense to make coronavirus vaccination available to everyone who wants to get vaccinated.

"Given that a lot of vaccines are coming, I think it no longer makes sense to keep this [age] barrier even though not everyone over 50 has been vaccinated," she told the press on Tuesday.

Beović acknowledged this was not a formal proposal by the advisory committee, which she said was dealing more with direct expert issues such as which vaccines are suitable for which age group.

But if it is asked about this, the advisory committee will convene and provide an answer.

Under the currently valid strategy, Slovenia is vaccinating all over the age of 50, plus several priority groups.

But there has been concern about whether it can reach the desired rate of vaccination given that interest in older age groups waned once about 60% were vaccinated.

Where can I get vaccinated for COVID in Slovenia?

Find your local health centre (zdravstveni dom – ZD) in the list here, then click through to the website. These have different styles, but you’re looking for something with COVID-19 ceplenje (COVID-19 vaccination). From there you should get more details and be able to register for a jab (Naročanje na COVID-19 cepljenje)

Whether Slovenia indeed achieves the goal of vaccinating 60% of the adult population by 15 June - as of today more than 20% have received at least one shot - Beović said this would "depend on us".

She thinks everyone should focus on how to get vaccinated as soon as possible rather than whether to get vaccinated at all or which vaccine to get.

According to her, once the vaccination rate reached 60%, "we can afford to live very differently".

STA, 4 May 2021 - The secondary school leaving exam is starting on Tuesday for some 17,000 final-year students. This is the second year in a row that the matura exam is taking place during the coronavirus epidemic, and after matura candidates were on distance learning for several months.

Almost 7,200 candidates have registered to take the general matura in spring alongside 10,620 who registered for the vocational matura exam.

However, just over 2,100 will sit for both types of matura, because some vocational matura candidates will also take one exam at general secondary schools.

The general matura starts for almost 6,625 students today as they write an essay in their mother tongue, while the vocational matura starts on 29 May.

Note: While for most students Slovenian is their mother tongue, Italian and Hungarian are also recognised as minority languages

The general matura exam is seen as more demanding in that it better prepares for university studies.

It consists of five exams - in mother tongue, a foreign language, maths and two elective subjects. The results will be available on 12 June.

To make the matura as safe as possible, the Education Ministry opted for voluntary vaccination for all last-year students, which started last week amid criticism that it had come too late for proper immunisation.

Those in quarantine during the matura period will be able to take exams if they produce a negative PCR test not older than 24 hours.

They will take it in a separate room, while school will have to provide for their separate entry to school and to the classroom.

In mid-April, only some 27 last-year secondary school students were sick with Covid-19, with another 199 in quarantine.

Those who can prove to be infected while the matura exam is on will be able to take it in the autumn, the second slot for the exams.

Last-year secondary school students were on remote learning from late October to mid-February, when they were among the first to return to in-person learning so that they could prepare for the matura.

Before schools reopened mass testing of teachers was rolled out and has now become a weekly routine. Teachers have also been prioritised for vaccination.

STA, 2 May 2021 - The vaccination campaign against Covid-19 has reached two important milestones. According to data by the National Institute of Public Health, more than 20% of the population has received one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine and more than 10% have been fully vaccinated.

So far, 426,043 people have been vaccinated with the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 211,199 have received both doses.

The first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine has been administered to 236,509 women and 189,534 men. A total of 124,014 women and 87,185 men have received both shots and are considered fully immunised.

Among those over 60 years old, at least 40% have received the first dose of the vaccine, and in the age group of over 65 the share is at 50% or more.

The highest share of vaccinated persons is in the 70-74 age group, where 64% have received the first shot and 45% both.

The most successful regions in terms of vaccination are the Zasavska, Koroška, Goriška regions, central Slovenia and Gorenjska, while the immunisation rate is the lowest in the Pomurska, SE Slovenia, Podravska and Posavska regions.

Of all vaccines available, 253,866 persons have so far received the first dosage of Pfizer, and 187,260 have also received the second dosage.

Another 128,431 people have received the first shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine and only 834 have received the second due to problems in the supply.

Meanwhile, 43,687 have received the first shot of Moderna and 22,710 have also receive the second shot.

STA, 30 April 2021 - Slovenia had 2,108,977 residents on 1 January, of whom 1,940,326 were citizens of Slovenia and 168,651 were foreigners. A negative trend was observed in the last quarter of 2020, as the number of births decreased and number of deaths increased compared to the same period the year before, the Statistics Office has reported.

On 1 January 2021, men outnumbered women in Slovenia, as there were 1,059,938 male residents and 1,049,039 female residents.

The share of women among the Slovenian citizens, which has been slowly declining for a number of years, stood at 51.1%, while among foreigner residents it was only 34.2%, or a total of 57,742.

In the last quarter of 2020, 7,028 people moved to Slovenia, which is almost 5% less year-on-year, while the number of people who moved out from the country was up by 5% to 5,562.

Related: Foreign Nationals in Slovenia, by Country, Region & Continent (2018 data)

The number of Slovenian citizens who moved out of the country in the fourth quarter of last year was higher than the number of foreign citizens who moved out, the Statistics Office notes.

According to preliminary data, there were 4,480 births in Slovenia in the last quarter of 2020, while there were 8,431 deaths. The number of births was down 4.7% year-on-year, and the number of deaths was up by 64.8%.

In the fourth quarter of last year, fewer people got married year-on-year, but there were also fewer divorces. The number of new marriages dropped by a quarter to 711, and the number of divorces was down by more than a third to 400.

A total of 43,190 people moved internally within Slovenia in the last quarter of 2020, which is 52% more than in the same period in 2019.

The Statistics Office attributes this mostly to the Covid-19 epidemic, as many people decided to change their residence address due to the ban on travel between municipalities or regions.