Hungarian FM Szijjártó calls for diversifying vaccine supplies

Hungary should get coronavirus vaccines “from as many sources as possible”, the foreign minister said on television on Wednesday.

Speaking on Russian television channel RT, Péter Szijjártó highlighted the importance of international cooperation in efforts to develop a vaccine, and suggested that “countries should not attack each other on a political basis”. “We keep our fingers crossed for any country working on the vaccine irrespective of which country it is,” he said, adding that “when lives are at stake, political considerations must be set aside”.

Szijjártó said that Hungary was interested in buying a vaccine from Russia, and a small quantity could arrive in Hungary in December for testing.

Buying larger quantities of the Russian vaccine “could be a realistic chance in the second half of January,”

he said, adding that production of that vaccine could also take place in Hungary.

Talks with Israel and China concerning a coronavirus vaccine are also under way, Szijjarto said, and welcomed progress made by US company Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. Based on experience with the first wave of the epidemic, “it is good for the country if it has as many sources as possible,” he said. He added that

“it is not true that EU members cannot buy a vaccine from third countries” as effective regulations allow each country to decide which vaccine they wish to apply.