Slovenia has recorded 1,233 new coronavirus cases and five COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the government said on Wednesday.

The 11-day lockdown, which ended on Sunday, was effective, reducing the reproduction number of COVID-19 from 1.2 to 1, Leon Cizelj of the Jožef Štefan Research Institute told a press conference in Ljubljana.

If the positive trend continues, the epidemic could be contained by the summer, he added.

According to government data, 622 infected people are currently hospitalised, of whom 154 are in intensive care. The incidence rate of confirmed infections per 100,000 people has been reduced by 15% over the last two weeks.

A total of 195,000 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 to date, or 16% of the population and 6% have received both doses. The immunisation process is expected to pick up this month and at least 50% of people aged between 65 and 69 are expected to be inoculated by May.

Of 216,000 people who have been administered the Pfizer vaccine, 2,386 have reported side effects, while 56 side effects have been reported among 4,110 people who received the Moderna vaccine. Of 100,000 people inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, 1,592 have reported side effects or about 1.5%.

Serious side effects, such as blood clotting or pulmonary embolism, have been reported in 32 cases with the Pfizer vaccine (1.3%), one case with the Moderna vaccine and 16 cases with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Epidemiologist Marta Grgič said that the shipment of the Johnson&Johnson vaccine that had arrived recently was currently “quarantined”, pending an opinion of the European Medicines Agency. As for the AstraZeneca vaccine, she said that the present strategy for its use remained in place as this vaccine was considered safe, effective and appropriate for all people above the age of 18.