First Russian vaccine shipment arriving in Hungary on Tuesday

The first shipment of the Russian coronavirus vaccine, enough to inoculate 20,000 people, is arriving in Hungary on Tuesday, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said in a video on Facebook.

Péter Szijjártó noted that under a recent agreement Hungary is set to receive two million doses of the vaccine from Russia, enough to inoculate one million people in the next three months.

The first shipment of 40,000 doses will be taken to the National Public Health Centre, where “the necessary tests will be carried out”, the minister said, adding that the vaccine will be distributed in line with the government’s vaccination plan.

The sooner vulnerable groups of people are vaccinated, the sooner restrictions can be eased,

Szijjártó said. He said centralised vaccine purchasing for the whole of the EU had “failed, risking European lives as well as plans to swiftly revive the European economy.” This is why the Hungarian government sought alternative vaccine supply sources, the minister added.

Inoculation of senior citizens to start on Thursday

The inoculation of senior citizens against the coronavirus vaccine will start on Thursday at vaccination centres and at GP surgeries around the country, a government official said on Tuesday.

István György, a state secretary of the prime minister’s office, noted that

the inoculation of health-care staff and the residents and employees of elderly care homes and social care facilities has been concluded, with 93 percent of health-care employees and over 82,000 people living or working in elderly care homes having received the vaccine, he said.

In the next step, elderly people who live at home and have registered for the vaccine will be inoculated, he said.

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Source: MTI