Nearly 1.5 m vaccine doses to arrive from Russia, China soon – UPDATED

Some 1.48 million doses of vaccine are scheduled to arrive in Hungary from Russia and China in the next ten days, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday.

After consultations with WHO Europe Regional Director Hans Kluge, Szijjártó told a joint press conference that 600,000 doses of vaccine are scheduled to arrive from China on Saturday, which will be the largest shipment since the start of the pandemic. Early next week, some 280,000 doses of the second-component Sputnik vaccine is scheduled to arrive from Russia, he added.

In the second half of next week, an additional 400,000 doses of the Chinese vaccine will arrive, in addition to

a shipment of 100,000 doses bought for Georgia,

he said. Additionally, 200,000 first-component Sputnik vaccine is also scheduled to arrive in the second half of next week, Szijjártó said.

Hungary will have received 2.1 million Chinese jabs by the end of April, some 600,000 doses more than originally contracted, he said. This will help address the situation resulting from the withdrawal of a western supplier, he added.

Szijjártó said Hungary had been regularly consulting with the WHO during the anti-pandemic efforts and acted in line with the organisation’s standards. He added that

Hungary was at the front of the European list in terms of the percentage of vaccinated population.

He expressed thanks to health workers and everyone involved in the logictics of vaccine supplies and added that sufficient volumes were available to continue the vaccination drive.

Szijjártó also thanked the WHO for “staying fair and correct throughout the period and not rising to politically-motivated attempts to provoke sentiments, handling vaccines as the most important means to save lives, with the only concern kept in mind that they are safe and effective”. “Hungary has made its decisions in the same spirit,” he added.

Kluge welcomed Hungary’s measures and its “exemplary” vaccination drive.

He said the government’s measures were designed to protect both individuals and businesses. Vaccination is considered a life-saving measure in Hungary and it “surpasses geo-political interests”, he said. He noted that Hungary’s vaccination rate was well above the European average and added that by the end of May all registered Hungarians could be inoculated.

Concerning the steps of re-opening, Kluge said that they should be determined by changes in the pandemic, adding that schools should be closed last and reopened first.

Later in the day, Kluge will meet Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Miklos Kasler, the human resources minister.

Concerning the steps of re-opening, Kluge said that they should be determined by changes in the pandemic, adding that schools should be closed last and reopened first.

After the meeting, Kluge and Ledia Lazeri, the head of WHO’s Budapest office, visited Budapest’s Koranyi Pulmonology Institute (OKPI) and praised the work done there, as well as the “heroic” work of Hungarian health-care workers. “As a doctor, I was looking forward to this visit very much.

What I experienced here is fascinating,” Kluge said.

“OKPI, as a figurehead of the fight against tubercolosis in Hungary, has had a key role in experiments on the WHO’s new models. They successfully employed those experiences in the fight against the coronavirus as well.”

Outdoor catering to restart when 3.5 m vaccinated

Bars and restaurants could again start serving customers outdoors when the number of Hungarians inoculated against Covid-19 reaches 3.5 million, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said. Orbán also announced that while kindergartens would reopen and the lower grades of primary schools would return to their classrooms on April 19, 5-8 graders would stay at home and go on with their online classes until May 10. The government has decided “to proceed gradually and carefully,” Orbán said, and asked parents for “patience and understanding”.

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Source: MTI