Thousands of Hungarians vaccinated once only to get the immunity certificate?!

Thousands of Hungarians neglect the second dose of the vaccine, as a result of which they do not reach the optimal level of immunity, which may even decrease extremely quickly with the passage of time. What is the reason behind it, and what will happen to their immunity certificate?!

In Hungary, the immunity certificate is provided after having received the first dose of the vaccine. Since the vaccination campaign started in Hungary, several virologists have emphasised the importance of being inoculated with the second dose as well in order to gain immunity against the coronavirus; however, recently, more and more Hungarians have decided not to get vaccinated with the second dose, without which their immunity is not guaranteed.  

According to Hungarian infectologist János Szlávik, “Even though it sounds good to be 70-80% immune three weeks after the first vaccine, it decreases extremely quickly.” The expert also added that without a second vaccination, the development of high immunity is not guaranteed. The question is becoming pressing among Hungarians, more and more of whom decide not to request the second vaccination.

As a result, 7,000 people in the case of the Sinopharm, 11,000 in the case of the Sputnik, and 12,000 in the case of the Pfizer vaccine did not request or receive their second dose.

The phenomenon is not unique in Hungary; internationally, the proportion of those who do not take the second vaccine is around 8-10%. As Hungarian news portal 24.hu reports, there may be a number of reasons for this. It is possible that some people wanted to get the immunity certificate which is sent out after the first vaccination.

However, the Hungarian government might decide to invalidate the card of those who do not take the second dose.

Or, they might have suffered strong side effects. But it can also happen that someone got the infection after the first vaccination, so they could not get the second one in time.

The situation is different in the case of the AstraZeneca vaccine where, instead of the initially prescribed time discrepancy of 3 months, the second vaccination is available after 4 weeks. Accordingly, instead of the scheduled 85,000 people, 130,000 Hungarians have already received the second vaccination by now. In the case of Moderna, the difference is also negligible, with only 700 people missing the second vaccination.

In the EU, four out of ten adults have already received at least their first vaccine, and one in six have received all the necessary doses. Hungary continues to go head to head with Malta. 56% of adults have received their first vaccine, and 34% have already received the second dose as well, with which Hungary is among the best-performing countries in terms of vaccination.

Currently, the number of people vaccinated in Hungary exceeds 4.7 million.

Presumably, Hungary will reach the 5 million mark by Pentecost, after which the next lockdown eases can be expected in early summer.

Source: 24.hu