STA, 10 May 2021 - The boss of the company operating the Postojna Cave has told the weekly Reporter he does not expect a normal flow of tourists this year due to the strict and rapidly changing restrictions in the EU member states. Speaking about "tourism cannibalism", he says Slovenia is in for a very poor season.

"Restrictions are harsh and they change on a weekly basis. This means there will largely be no normal tourist flow," said Marjan Batagelj of Postojnska Jama, the operator of one of the Slovenia's main landmarks.

In the interview with Reporter, published on Monday, Batagelj added that tourism was not bars and restaurants and their terraces, as the revenue in the sector came mostly from foreign guests.

And if there are no foreign guests in Slovenia, and if the airline industry does not get back on its feet, Slovenia is in for a very poor season. "This is not something that pleases the ear, but it is true. I will be happy if I was wrong."

Batagelj also spoke about what he labelled as "tourism soloing by countries", which implicates the beginning of "tourism cannibalism".

"Before the crisis, tourism regions were united to a certain extent at least when it came to joint promotion in remote, overseas or continental markets. Now there are no friendly tourism countries any more. Every country will bet on their domestic guests, and tourist flows will be stopped."

He noted that the situation for tourism workers had been deteriorating for one year and a half, while he is putting a lot of hope in the upcoming special emergency law for the tourism and hospitality industry.

While Batagelj commended the state aid, he was critical of tourism vouchers, as the idea would have been very good if it was intended for all stakeholders in tourism, which is "not only accommodation, overnight stay."

It is also about sights, natural and cultural heritage of Slovenia, museums, agencies, guides, transport industry, restaurant owners - everybody who serve guests, he said.

The Postojna Cave, which remains closed until the end of the epidemic is declared, last year had EUR 4 million in revenue, compared to the target of EUR 35 million. "I don't even want to mention this year's numbers, because there are no numbers."

Batagelj is worried about this year's season, as he does not think that people will start visiting the landmark now that restrictive measures are being relaxed as tourists are "shyly cautious". "This season will be worse than last year's."

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.

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 7 May 2021. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Government to blame for vaccination failures

STA, 7 May 2021 - Mladina says in its latest commentary that the government's attitude and communication issues are to blame for significant mistrust and unwillingness to get vaccinated among the general public.

"This week, it became definitively clear that the Janez Janša government has botched the vaccination strategy," the left-wing weekly says in the commentary Time for a New Prime Minister.

It points out the disparities between the vaccination strategy and reality, which the government mainly attributes to the absence of a national information system.

Mladina, on the other hand, says that the explanation is that "people do not want to get vaccinated, and in the past year this government has failed to convince the public that vaccination is both beneficial and safe."

The reason is the government's fixation on "cultural issues, replacing senior management staff and confronting the media, instead of working towards social peace and building trust."

The weekly says that because many people refuse to be vaccinated, Slovenia now faces a serious situation, for which it blames the government and its representatives in charge of the vaccination strategy, who are "professionally and politically incompetent and indecent". "Prime Minister Janez Janša is to blame for all of this."

The commentator urges the opposition to take action, to "restart the talks with parties and MPs who are aware of the gravity of the situation, and to try again with a vote of no confidence in the prime minister." "Of course this sounds radical, but the situation is serious."

Demokracija: The dangers of cancel culture

STA, 6 May 2021 - Demokracija says in its latest commentary that the constant attacks on the centre-right government of Janez Janša and undermining of every anti-epidemic measure are part of the strategy under which tradition, the "old order", should be rooted out, and every revolt against the "new order" mercilessly nipped in the bud.

"There is no space for conservatism in the new world," the right-leaning weekly says under the headline Cancel Culture, adding that people apparently want to be led by elites that will decide what is right and what is wrong.

"Elections and political parties and, consequently, different views of the world will be completely unnecessary. They are remnants of backwardness, bourgeoisie, reactionary ideologies, aren't they?"

The utopia that is being painted these days by the left is taking over the masses and its plan could not be clearer, and in order for this to happen, any government that is not oriented towards the left should be opposed.

"All authorities that have a different world view, although being completely legitimately elected, are a threat to the 'new'. This is why it should be shown to people, by instigating unrest and rebellion, that the future is near."

Demokracija says that it is worrying how many people fall for this and are willing to "realise the delusions of their prophets" not with elections and acceptable mechanisms of democratic state, but with threats and violence.

It adds that the mainstream media and revolutionary indoctrination in the education system have done its part, and today a majority of young people are not familiar with traditional social and cultural norms that help people rein in their anger.

"Cancel culture and hypersensitivity to everything that is right from the centre ... are blurring the line between the acceptable and unacceptable. We are in the middle of a war. This is how far the leftists have gone. Unfortunately."

All our posts in this series are here

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, 6 May 2021 - Prime Minister Janez Janša announced on Twitter on Thursday that all adults under 50 will start to get vaccinated on Monday. "We will have enough vaccine for everyone by summer. Let's be responsible to ourselves and others, get vaccinated and hold out for a few more weeks. It is time for a normal summer," he wrote.

Jelko Kacin, the national vaccination logistics coordinator, announced on Wednesday that Slovenia has at least 450,000 doses of four types of vaccines against Covid-19 available for the month of May, which will speed up the vaccination process.

Od ponedeljka dalje bo steklo cepljenje tudi vseh odraslih pod 50 let starosti. Do poletja bomo zagotovili dovolj cepiva za vse. Bodimo odgovorni do sebe in drugih, #CepimoSe in zdržimo še nekaj tednov. Čas je za normalno poletje. https://t.co/G0hnqVuNI6

— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) May 6, 2021

At the same time, Kacin announced additional quantities of vaccines and urged everyone to make the decision to get vaccinated.

He also explained that a new application is to be presented by Health Minister Janez Poklukar at today's press conference. The app will enable people to sign up to get inoculated and make it easier to monitor the progress of vaccination across the country.

In accordance with the current national vaccination strategy, people in the 50-59 age group, chronic patients and critical infrastructure workers are being vaccinated.

On Wednesday, Kacin did not have information on how many people were still waiting, but he did report that 16.3% of the 50-54 age group and 23.3% of people in the 55-59 age group had already been vaccinated. In total, 70 000 people in the 50-59 age group have received the vaccine.

According to the National Institute of Public Health, a total of 449,477 people have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The vaccination website

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".

Please note that PCR tests performed in Serbia and Turkey will be recognised as a way to avoid quarantine on arrival in Slovenia only for arrivals at airports and not in general as reported earlier.

STA, 3 May 2021 - PCR tests done in Serbia and Turkey will be recognised as a way to avoid quarantine on arrival in Slovenia through airports from Wednesday under an amended decree that the government adopted on Monday.

Save for some exceptions, passengers from countries on the red list must quarantine unless they submit a negative PCR test no older than 48 hours, proof of vaccination, or proof of having had Covid-19 in the past six months, which includes a positive PCR test older than 21 days.

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, 1 May 2021 - Slovenia and Hungary have agreed to mutually recognise their respective Covid-19 vaccination certificates, the Slovenian Ministry has announced. A vaccination certificate issued in one country will have the same legal effect as the one issued in another, in line with the internal national legal orders.

Slovenia already permits entry to the country from Hungary without mandatory quarantine or proof of a negative coronavirus test if a vaccination certificate is produced.

Under the agreement, Hungary will now do the same for entry from Slovenia, after only certain exceptions have so far been permitted to enter Hungary, the ministry said on Facebook.

In addition to the vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), also applied in Hungary are the Russian vaccine Sputnik V and the vaccines of the Chinese producers Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech.