Ljubljana related
STA, 1 October 2021 - The Health Ministry has asked the Medical Chamber to examine whether under 18-year-olds may have received the viral vector vaccines Janssen and AstraZeneca, which have not been approved for that age group.
"Patients' health is always our top priority, this is why we have requested, based on the healthcare act, an extraordinary expert oversight from the Medical Chamber," the ministry said on Friday.
Data published on the website of the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) indicates that 219 persons under 18 years of age have been vaccinated with the single-shot Janssen jab, while the first shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine has been administered to 45 and the second to 20 under 18s.
The national advisory committee on immunization affiliated with the NIJZ has never recommended the two viral vector vaccines for the 12-17-year olds, the NIJZ noted in response for the STA.
It did allow for the possibility that errors may have occurred as vaccination centres entered data in the registry of vaccinated persons and adverse side-effects.
Questions over potential administering of Janssen and AstraZeneca vaccines to under 18s began to be raised after a 20-year-old woman died of brain haemorrhaging and blood clots within a fortnight after receiving a Janssen shot.
Demand for the vaccine, produced by Johnson & Johnson, surged in Slovenia after the government imposed the recovered-vaccinated-tested mandate for almost all services and decided that those vaccinated qualify for the Covid pass the next day after receiving the Janssen shot.
STA, 1 October 2021 - The beginning of October marks the start of a new academic year, once more impacted by Covid-19, as in-person lectures, seminars and exams being reserved for those meeting the recovered-tested-vaccinated rule. There will be no traditional university welcome for new students either.
In line with the guidelines of the Education Ministry and the National Institute of Public Health, which higher education institutions also helped form, lectures will take place at faculties, subject to the recovered-vaccinated-tested condition.
For staff and students, weekly self-testing at their respective institutions will be sufficient to meet the testing requirement.
However, if the situation deteriorates, universities will have the autonomy to impose additional measures.
The tests will be free of charge for students and can be obtained from any pharmacy on presentation of an ID, an enrolment certificate and a health insurance card. For foreign students, the first two will be sufficient.
Students who work in addition to their studies will also be obliged to self-test with the employer they work for, while students on clinical training in healthcare are subject to the same self-testing conditions as other students.
Meanwhile, the enrolment process is still ongoing at the universities of Ljubljana, Maribor, Primorska and Nova Gorica.
The universities and other higher education institutions have offered 18,520 places for the 2021/2022 academic year, with 11,890 new students admitted in the first enrolment period.
A new dental medicine study programme is opening in Maribor this academic year, while the number of places has been increased at both medical faculties, in Ljubljana and Maribor, at the Faculty of Computer Science in Ljubljana and at the Faculty of Education in Primorska.
The number of foreign students continues to rise, having more than doubled in the last four years to 11%. Most foreign students study at the university in Ljubljana.
The final data on the number of students studying at Slovenian universities this academic year will be announced in October, as the second application and enrolment period runs until 30 September.
Due to epidemiological measures, mass events for welcoming newcomers traditionally organised by universities and student organisations will not take place.
The new chancellor of the University of Ljubljana, Gregor Majdič, will only address the new students at the Freshmen Welcome event remotely, via video-link.
Majdič, who was recently elected chancellor of Slovenia's largest and oldest university for the 2021-2025 term, believes the social role of the university needs to be strengthened, along with cooperation between faculties and with research institutes, and that the society's confidence in knowledge and science needs to be restored.
"In autumn, the first challenge will be to carry out the study process safely. More than 85% of University of Ljubljana staff have been vaccinated, which is something we are very proud of," he said.
"It is certainly our wish and our intention that the study process this academic year takes place at the faculties, with direct contact between professors and students," Majdič added.
Despite the lack of welcome events, students will be briefly introduced at the start of the year to a whole range of possible activities to stay healthy, entertained or gain additional knowledge, experience and other useful information.
STA, 29 September 2021 - A group of several thousand protesters again gathered in Ljubljana on Wednesday to protest against the Covid pass mandate in what was the third such protest. Starting in Republic Square, the rally moved to the ring road, which was closed for a while, as the police tried to break up the crowd, including by using a water cannon.
The rally started in the city centre but since the parliament building was fenced off and police started restricting movement in near-by streets, the crowd moved to Celovška Street and continued all the way to the Ljubljana ring road, blocking traffic as it progressed accompanied by a police helicopter.
Police used a water cannon and according to media reports also tear gas to disperse the crowd, which however turned back towards the city centre again and continued rallying in Republic Square. Now, most of the protesters have dispersed.
The Ljubljana police department said the protesters had been asked to leave the site for their own security.
The protesters opposing the recovered-vaccinated-tested (PCT) requirement today raised the issue of the death of a 20-year-old, who died within a fortnight after receiving a shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Her father addressed the crowd.
The rally demanded immediate lifting of the PCT requirement and immediate government resignation.
Protesters were also critical of media reporting, and obstructed some journalist crews reporting from the scene, including the teams of commercial TV stations Kanal A and POP TV. They were throwing different objects at them and spat on them. A security guard accompanying the teams sustained light injuries.
A group of protesters also stopped in front of the building of public broadcaster RTV Slovenija, where police also used the water cannon.
The Slovenian Association of Journalists (DNS) responded by urging people to respect the work of journalists in the field and not put them in danger, as they are merely doing their job. It also called on media outlets and police to provide for the safety of journalist crews working in the field.
The Association of Journalists and Commentators (ZNP) also expressed concern over the violence against journalists, saying it had become a regular feature at protests. Since cameras recorded the attack on the journalist crews today, the ZNP expects police to find the perpetrator and take appropriate action.
Prime Minister Janez Janša commented on the events on Twitter by saying that attacks, threats and violations of Covid-19 rules were not the constitutional right to assembly. "The leadership of the Ljubljana police is obviously not capable of preventive action, it's time for the Interior Ministry to take action," he tweeted.
STA, 29 September 2021 - Slovenia on Wednesday suspended the use of the single-shot coronavirus vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson after a twenty-year-old woman died within a fortnight after receiving the shot, Health Minister Janez Poklukar announced.
The move was proposed by the special advisory group for vaccination at the National Institute of Public Health and the suspension will be in place until all the circumstances of the woman's death have been cleared up, according to Poklukar.
Bojana Beović, the head of the advisory group, said it would take at least a week to investigate the death.
Unlike in several other countries, where the Johnson & Johnson vaccine (also known as the Janssen vaccine) is administered only to older patients, it was available to anyone over the age of 18 in Slovenia, with the exception of pregnant women.
Indeed, the vaccine surged in popularity in recent weeks after the government decided that those vaccinated qualify for the Covid pass, which is now mandatory for almost all services, the next day after receiving the shot.
This provided the fastest way to get the coveted Covid pass; for all other vaccines, the Covid pass took effect after the second dose.
Beović said this was not recommended by the advisory group, while Poklukar said the decision was motivated by the desire that the rules are the same for all vaccines.
A total of 120,000 Slovenian have been vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and just yesterday the government announced it was buying another 100,000 doses from Hungary to meet the high demand.
The 20-year-old's death due to brain haemorrhaging and blood clots is the second reported case of serious adverse effects concerning coronavirus vaccines in Slovenia. Another young woman had serious adverse effects but recovered.
Poklukar was quick to point out that there have been only two serious cases among the almost million vaccinated Slovenians, whereas nearly 4,900 people with Covid had died, of which almost a hundred in September alone.
"I have to emphasise that we have so far vaccinated 120,000 people with the Janssen vaccine and that the benefits of vaccination outweigh potential risks," he said.
The Johnson & Johnson jab is one of two vector-based vaccines that has been used in Slovenia. Beović said it might make sense to consider no longer providing the AstraZeneca jab and focusing only on the mRNA vaccines.
According to RTV Slovenia (and multiple other sources), Slovenia is considering suspending use of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine after an incident involving a 20-year old woman. While initial reports had claimed the woman had died a few weeks after receiving the vaccine, UKC Ljubljana then clarified that woman remains alive, although in a critical condition.
The case has been referred to the NIJZ (National Institute of Public Health) as indicating a possible side effect of the vaccine. UKC Ljubljana stressed that while no direct link has been found, there’s a reasonable suspicion of a causal link between the vaccination and the woman’s stroke.
So far just under 120,000 people have received the Janssen vaccine in Slovenia. One other woman under 50 was previously reported as suffering from a serious complication after receiving the vaccine in Slovenia, and she then recovered. In contrast, the wife of a Slovenian diplomat who received the Janssen vaccine in Brussels in May died shortly after, with the investigating commission concluding a direct connection between the events.
The head of Slovenia’s vaccine advisory group, Bojana Beović, responded to the news of the latest incident by saying that despite the low level of risk she personally favoured suspending the use of the Janssen vaccine.
News of the young woman’s cases came on the same day Slovenia announced that it has purchased an additional 100,000 doses of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine from Hungary.
STA, 24 September 2021 - A teacher from a primary school in Maribor opposing the recovered-vaccinated-tested (PCT) rule and campaigning against Covid measures has been fired, media have reported. Firing staff over non-compliance with the PCT rule is possible under a government decision adopted at the end of summer.
The leadership of the France Rozman - Stane Primary School urged the teacher to get tested for Covid-19 twice and since she did not comply, she was banned from conducting her work and subsequently fired.
Schools and kindergartens received instructions from the Education Ministry on how to act if staff does not adhere to the PCT rule just before the start of the school year.
The ministry said that those who were not vaccinated or reconvalescent and refused to get tested did not meet the obligations from their employment contract, and could thus be fired.
The teacher argued that the government decree on the PCT rule was unconstitutional, and the appeal process is still under way.
The school's decision was backed by both the Maribor municipality and the Education Ministry.
The former teacher is a vocal opponent of Covid-19 measures. She is a member of the group of coronavirus deniers and anti-vaccination protesters who stormed the headquarters of public broadcaster RTV Slovenija at the beginning of the month.
On social media she posted a video urging parents not to send children to school because they would be forcedly vaccinated there.
STA, 24 September 2021 - The Covid pass mandate has been relaxed starting on Friday, with the requirement waived for those working from home and those filling up their cars as long as they do not enter the interior of petrol stations.
This is under a government decree adopted late last night that comes after sharp criticism of the Covid pass mandate for those working from home, in particular the self-employed.
The mandate remains in place for the vast majority of services and all other workplace settings.
In a related easing of restrictions, the government decided that indoor and outdoor sports practice can be conducted without masks or distancing as long as the participants have a valid Covid pass.
STA, 23 September 2021 - A total of 1,011 new coronavirus infections were confirmed on Wednesday, down 75 from Tuesday, as the test positivity rate dropped by two percentage points to 18%, data released by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) on Thursday shows. The number of estimated active cases in Slovenia thus dropped by nine to 13,734.
The 7-day average of new cases also dropped yesterday, by 46 to 955 from Tuesday, and the 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents was down by one to 648, NIJZ data also shows.
According to the government, there were four Covid-19 deaths yesterday.
The number of hospitalised Covid patients this morning stands at 391, seven more than yesterday, of whom 102 are in intensive care, three more than yesterday.
According to NIJZ, 976,963 residents, or 46.3% of the population, have received all the doses of the vaccine to be fully immunised against Covid-19.
Infectologist Matjaž Jereb said at a press conference that it an estimated 350-400 Covid-19 patients would require standard hospital care and up to 140 patients would require intensive care at the end of September.
He said that the projections of development of the epidemic had been somewhat more favourable in the last week, but "we are far from being able to be carefree".
Jereb noted that the bulk of Covid-19 patients in hospitals were persons who had not been vaccinated, while attributing a low average age of patients in intensive care units to a lower vaccination rate among the younger population.
The youngest Covid-19 patient in standard units of the UKC Ljubljana hospital is aged 41, and the youngest patient in intensive care is aged 27. Neither of them has been vaccinated against Covid-19, he said.
"We need to be aware that our hospital capacities are limited," Jereb said, adding that the "more the number of Covid patients grows, the more we will limit activities in non-Covid units and the greater risk for non-Covid patients."
STA, 20 September 2021 - The Covid pass mandate introduced last week has led to a surge in vaccination. Almost 84,000 shots were administered last week, the highest weekly figure since early June, show data from the national vaccination registry.
The rate of vaccine uptake is however still significantly below the peak of the vaccination drive, when 100,000-plus jabs were delivered into arms each week, according to data published by the tracker covid-19.sledilnik.org.
Going to Gatherings of 50+ People Now Needs COVID Pass
The structure of vaccines has changed substantially as well. The Pfizer/BioNTech jab remains in high demand, but in the past two weeks people have sought out the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires a single jab.
At the same time, demand for the AstraZeneca vaccine, where eight weeks at a minimum must pass between the first and second shot, has plummeted and the vaccine now accounts for a tiny fraction of all shots delivered.
At present 46% of Slovenia's population is fully vaccinated and 52% have received at least one jab. Among adults, the rates are 55% and 61%, respectively.
Official data show Slovenia still has roughly a million doses in stock, enough to deliver at least the first shot to all those who have not been vaccinated yet.
STA, 17 September 2021 - The government has adopted changes to the Covid pass mandate under which state administration employees working from office will need to be either Covid-19 reconvalescent or vaccinated starting from 1 October. It has also added several further exemptions to the recovered-vaccinated-tested (PCT) rule, lifting the age cap from 12 to 15 years.
The decision, taken by the correspondence session last night, means that testing will no longer be accepted for state administration employees in workplace as an alternative to vaccination or recent recovery from Covid-19 starting from 1 October.
Meanwhile, starting from Saturday, exemption from the PCT rule is being extended from children under 12 years of age to those younger than 15.
In addition to those who drop off or pick up young children in school and students on public transportation, the exemption is being extended to persons dropping off and picking up special needs children or elderly to care homes or day centres.
Presenting the changes today, Health Minister Janez Poklukar said that exemptions would also apply to users of health services when they get vaccinated against or tested for Covid.
A further exemption in the case of health services will be in cases of medical referrals labelled urgent or very fast, and in emergency social and family affairs cases.
After a call by the equality ombudsman yesterday, an exemption to the PTC rule will also apply to access to charities and other points providing basic necessities to people in need.
The PCT obligation will also not be mandatory for urgent supply with basic goods and necessities, providing public peace and order, security and defence as well as to petrol stations for persons engaged in international transport who leave the country within 12 hours.
The exemptions will also newly apply for recipients of registered mail when they need to accept the delivery in person to avoid legal consequences.
Public Administration Minister Boštjan Koritnik said the new PC rule will only apply to the public administration in the narrow sense, that is government departments and their bodies, inspection services, police and army and administrative units, rather than the whole public sector.
The new rule will only apply to staff doing their job from the workplace. "Exempt are those who cannot get vaccinated for health reasons, they will have the option of self-testing as an exception."
Koritnik said the aim of the measure was to prevent spread of infections at workplace and to ensure undisrupted functioning of the state administration.
"We aren't forcing any state administration employee to get vaccinated, we're not mandating compulsory vaccination, but we do want the measure to be an additional encouragement to get vaccinated," he said.
"All those who don't want to get vaccinated will theoretically be able to work from home if the nature and type of work and the work process make that possible."
If work cannot be organised from home, the employer will be able to take measures in accordance with the employment relationship legislation.
The new PC rule for public administration will kick in on 1 October, which should give all state administration bodies enough time to adapt and organise work and employees to get vaccinated.
To meet the new rule on 1 October, the first jab will be enough but only on the condition that the second is administered by 1 November.
Koritnik said the government was recommending employers to review risk assessment in view of the Covid epidemic and take measures accordingly.
Mateja Logar, the head of Covid-19 advisors to the government, said they had proposed introducing PC rule for all citizens when two thirds of available ICU beds for Covid patients were filed.
The government's decision to start with the PC rule in the state administration was an additional decision, she said.
But she believes the PC rule will likely need to be expanded to other groups of population as well.
