Europe

Inoculated with the Chinese or Russian vaccine? You still get the EU vaccine certificate

vaccination immunity certificate_hungary

The EU decided to accept the vaccine certificate of those inoculated with the Russian or the Chinese vaccine, however, they will not be able to use it as those who have been vaccinated with a jab accepted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

As proposed by Sophie In’t Veld, a Dutch representative of the European Parliament at the discussion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs,

“The European Union should regulate the price of PCR tests because this is the only way to avoid the discrimination of those who have not been vaccinated against the virus yet.”

Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice, while talking about the system of European vaccine certificates currently under preparation, he emphasised that

“Every European citizen has the right to the Digital Green Certificate; no one can be deprived of it, even if he was inoculated with a vaccine accepted by his own member state in an emergency process, and not by the EMA.”

According to him, it is an especially important aspect when it comes to Russia’s Szputnyik V, which is still currently under the investigational procedure carried out by the Agency. It is probable that the vaccine will only be authorised once the system of the vaccine certificate will already be in use, writes hvg.hu.

Hungary among the first countries to join the vaccine certification platform

The Commissioner mentioned that the standpoint of those countries who only trust the jabs previously approved by the EMA is also understandable. To synchronise opposing opinions, the European Commission has the plan to let member states only accept those vaccines on an obligatory basis that are approved by the European Medicines Agency. Furthermore, they would have the possibility to approve others, as well.

It is important to note, however, that

the European vaccine certificate is not a vaccine passport.

In practice, it means that members states need to guarantee the same rights to everyone who was inoculated by a vaccine approved by the EMA, who has a negative PCR test or who can prove with an immunity certificate that he has been through the infection.

The Dutch representative of the Renew Europe Group raised her concerns reacting to this statement, saying that PCR tests need to be affordable to avoid any discrimination among EU citizens. This is not the case in every European member state at the moment. She called on the European Commission to work out a plan that would regulate the price of PCR tests on an EU level.

The Digital Green Card’s draft was presented by the Commission in March. Currently, they are developing the necessary IT system. Meanwhile, the European governments are discussing the proposal. If they all manage to accept and approve the proposition and the technological background is ready, the system will hopefully go live around the beginning of June, right before the beginning of the summer season.

Its specific goal is to facilitate the free movement of EU citizens on the European Union’s territory.

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Irresponsibility? Hungarians do not comply with government restrictions

The coronavirus pandemic has been present in everyone’s lives for more than one year. We are currently in the third wave of the epidemic. The third wave is severe in Central and Eastern Europe and especially in Hungary. Mortality rates per million people are among the highest in the region.

In connection with this, quibit.hu examined what government measures have been taken in each country and the extent to which the population is complying with them. According to the data, last year’s measures were stricter than this year’s. The attention of the Hungarian population is also waning. In 2020, Hungarians complied more with the restrictive measures than in 2021.

The main reasons for this are the emergence of vaccination, the economic and mental burden of the viral situation.

According to the data of the beginning of April, the fourth most people died in Hungary in terms of the number of death per one million inhabitants. The ten worst performing countries include the Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria from the region. Regarding epidemiological measures, experts say that the actions were milder in Hungary than in Austria and Slovenia. The easing of epidemiological restrictions has recently begun in Hungary. Experts and the number of deaths do not justify this at all.

Oxford University uses 19 indicators to monitor the number and severity of government action in each country. The measurement looked at, among other things, the extent to which the government regulated going to school and work, assembly, public transport, travel, and wearing a mask. Not only Oxford University but also the Institute for Health Metris and Evaluation report that Central and Eastern Europe is below average in terms of government tightening. They also point out that the region’s countries are moving together, which means that they are monitoring each other’s actions.

The Hungarian population often does not follow the milder measures.

Mobility researches analyse the location data of the population’s mobile phones. According to Google, Facebook and Apple, the situation is the worst in Hungary. It should be added that mask-wearing, distance and hand disinfection cannot be determined from the location data, which can reduce the spread of the disease. There is also a significant difference between Western and Eastern Europe in this area.

Over the weekend, Hungarian police cracked down on several partying companies. They closed two nightclubs, with 25 people partying at a disco. The police also caught a house party of 15 people and 22 people in Budapest. Police closed the nightclub and catering unit concerned for half a year. These examples also show well that Hungarians often do not follow the rules.

EU drug regulator finds link between AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots

astrazeneca-hungary-vaccine

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it had found a possible link between AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine and reports of very rare cases of blood clots in people who had received the shot.

Safety concerns have prompted more than a dozen countries in recent weeks to suspend use of the vaccine, which has been given to tens of millions of people in Europe, after reports linking it to a brain blood clotting disorder in a few dozen recipients.

The EMA announcement is a fresh setback for the vaccine, which is sold at cost, for a few dollars a dose, and is by far the cheapest and most high-volume launched so far.

After extensive use in Britain and mainland Europe, it is set to be the mainstay of vaccination programmes in much of the developing world.

Experts say that, even if a causal link between the vaccine and blood clots is proved, the risks to the general population of getting a serious clot are vanishingly small compared to the risks from possible COVID-19 infection, which can also cause similar clots, or from many other widely used drugs such as the birth control pill.

Both the EMA and the World Health Organization have said the benefits outweigh the risks of the vaccine.

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Read alsoUK: do not give AstraZeneca vaccine to under-30s / Hungary waits for EMA advice

Mesmerising film of National Geographic about Hungary to air this weekend – VIDEOS

Hungary NatGeo

One of the most popular television networks showing us the most precious natural wonders of the world, National Geographic, is releasing a series called Europe From Above. Its upcoming second season will involve Hungary.

The 6 episodes of the channel’s new series will present European countries and their wonderful sites, flying above France, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Greece, and Hungary. The series will concentrate on well-known and hidden cultural, natural, and architectural wonders from a rare and unique perspective.

The episodes will present the exciting image of 21st-century Europe while looking back at the past and admiring the continent’s cultural and architectural heritage.

We will have the possibility to travel to many breathtaking natural sites still untouched by people, unveiling their original beauty, writes Magyar Hang.

The episode about Hungary will include exemplary buildings and landscapes Hungarians are all proud of.

The international team of National Geographic chose the best way to show the most impressive side of these places. For instance, they will present buildings covered with the unique Zsolnay ceramic tiles – if we already piqued your interest, you can read our article on

Szentkirályszabadja, a little village near Lake Balaton, with the history of its Soviet army base, will also be included. Its old buildings have been standing completely empty since 1996, with old panel structures reclaimed by nature for itself. The village is also referred to as the country’s “ghost town” – no wonder it was chosen to be featured.

A part of the Great Hungarian Plain, Hortobágy, Lake Bokod, and our famous Lake Balaton itself cannot be missed, of course.

The 800m2 national park of Hortobágy, the largest protected area in the country, a world heritage site since 1999, looks amazing from above, together with its large herds of Hungarian Grey Cattle.

Lake Bokod is considered one of the most precious places of Hungary, partly thanks to its unique “floating village”. Reporters of NatGeo even interviewed fishermen about life on the lake.

Apart from these lesser-known places so dear to Hungarians, those who have visited our little country will be able to recognise sites such as the thermal baths all around the country, the City Park of Budapest, or our huge castles and palaces. Thanks to a special visualisation technology, the episode will go back in time to reconstruct the castle of Szigliget in 3D.

The episode about Hungary will air on April 11, Sunday, at 9 pm on National Geographic Hungary.  

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Europe recasts COVID-19 vaccine playbook after first-round flop

coronavirus hungary hospital

Europe, under fire for fumbling its vaccine roll-out and fighting a fresh wave of infections, is scrambling to speed up the pace of injections and avoid being left further behind by Britain and the United States.

In Paris, the city’s hallowed national soccer stadium is being transformed into a mass vaccination hub, while Italy – with 20,000 infections daily – has put the army and civil defence agency in charge, after new Prime Minister Mario Draghi fired the country’s vaccine czar.

Over Easter, Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia state is relaxing rules on who can get 450,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine. Clotting concerns have prompted the country to limit the vaccine to people over the age of 60, but North Rhine-Westphalia hopes its measures will now allow more people in that age group to get a first dose.

Originally, it had wanted to give the AstraZeneca vaccine to pregnant women and their partners, among other priority groups.

“We can’t do that anymore, because I assume that those people … are under 60,” North Rhine Westphalia’s Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann told reporters.

“We didn’t want to bunker these shots, we decided we would get them via vaccination centres to people as quickly as possible.”

Europe’s urgency to reverse what the World Health Organization branded on Thursday an “unacceptably slow” start to vaccinations is growing, as variants first detected in Britain, South Africa and now Brazil whip up angst that acting too slowly will let the virus proliferate again.

The chaos of Europe’s roll-out has been exacerbated by squabbling over vaccine exports, health concerns over AstraZeneca’s vaccine and some temporary delivery delays affecting Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines.

The European Union was slower than Britain and the United States, not only to order vaccines last year from companies but also in approving them. Even once they were approved, vaccination rates have been disappointing.

The WHO estimates just 4% of 750 million people in 53 countries across continental Europe, from wealthier Scandinavia to poorer Balkan countries, have been fully vaccinated, a quarter of the U.S. count.

While the European Union’s vaccination rate is slowly climbing, only 13.4% of adults in the bloc have had at least one shot, according to Europe’s vaccine tracker.

By contrast, more than half of adult Britons and 38% of U.S. adults have received at least one dose, official figures and Reuters calculations show.

Still, the situation is improving: A Reuters analysis shows the seven-day average for the four largest countries – Germany, France, Italy and Spain – was at its highest yet during the last week.

Since Spain resumed AstraZeneca shots on March 24 after suspending them temporarily over clotting concerns, its seven-day rolling average of vaccinations rose to nearly 200,000 shots a day, from 95,283 daily a week earlier, Spanish officials said.

The country is now converting venues like conference centres and, like France, football stadiums, into mass vaccination centres, and expects to inoculate 70% of its 47 million population by the end of summer.

Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias has said that April will be “an inflection point”, as more vaccines flood into the country.

The EU expects a major ramp-up of deliveries in the second quarter will be sufficient to inoculate at least 255 million people, or 70% of its adult population, by July.

About 200 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine are due in the quarter, enough for 100 million people, while deliveries of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose shot will start this month.

VETS, DENTISTS, COMPANIES

France is also converting veterinarian and dentists’ offices into vaccine centres, while Italy has abandoned primrose-shaped pavilions in its squares and is getting doctors, dentists and pharmacists to dispense doses instead.

The aim is to more than double daily vaccinations to half a million from 230,000 currently.

Pharmacies in Switzerland are also preparing to start offering doses to people over 65 this month, but the government expects that once mass vaccinations become possible, likely sometime in May, private companies will have a role, similar to flu clinics some offer each year to employees.

The Swiss government expects 10.5 million doses by July, enough for roughly 5.2 million people.

“There won’t just be shots in vaccination centres, doctors and pharmacists,” Swiss Health Minister Alain Berset said on Wednesday. “That’s something we’re hoping for, something we’re supporting.”

Angela Merkel incites German states to tighten restrictions due to worsening statistics

Merkel Angela

Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed Germany’s states on Sunday to step up efforts to curb rapidly rising coronavirus infections, and raised the possibility of introducing curfews to try to get a third wave under control.

Merkel expressed dissatisfaction that some states were choosing not to halt a gradual reopening of the economy even as the number of infections per 100,000 people over seven days had risen over 100 – a measure she and regional leaders had agreed on in early March.

“We have our emergency brake … unfortunately, it is not respected everywhere. I hope that there might be some reflection on this,” Merkel said in a rare appearance on broadcaster ARD’s Anne Will talk show.

Coronavirus infections have risen rapidly in recent weeks, driven by more transmissible strains of the virus. Merkel’s chief of staff warned earlier on Sunday that the country was in the most dangerous phase of the pandemic and must suppress the virus now or risk dangerous mutations that were immune to vaccines.

On Sunday, the incidence of the virus per 100,000 rose to 130 from 104 a week ago. The number of total confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 17,176 to 2,772,401, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday. The reported death toll rose by 90 to 75,870, the tally showed.

Germany’s vaccination rollout has got off to a sluggish start, hampered by supply constraints. As of Sunday, 10.3% of the population had received at least a first shot, far behind rates in other countries like Israel, the United States and Britain.

Merkel said that if states did not start implementing measures with appropriate seriousness in the “very foreseeable future”, she would have to consider what steps could be taken on a nationwide basis.

One option would be to amend the Infection Protection Act to stipulate what should happen under certain scenarios, Merkel said, adding the government and states were obliged to contain infections.

Businesses may also have to be required to implement testing for staff who cannot work from home if they fail to do it sufficiently on their own, she said.

Merkel said she was not convinced the measures taken up to now were enough to break the third wave of the pandemic.

“In any case, I will not stand by and watch that we have 100,000 infected people,” she said, referring to a warning by RKI President Lothar Wieler that daily cases could shoot up to that level without tougher curbs.

“What additional measures do we need? … We need to do more. We have the possibilities of restrictions on going out, further contact restrictions, further mask wearing … plus testing strategies in all places: so in schools twice a week, and through the economy”.

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Turkey triggers major backlash from EU and US after quitting accord on protecting women

Turkey Womens Rights Protest Törökország Tüntetés Nők Védelméért

U.S. and European leaders denounced what they called Turkey’s baffling and concerning decision to pull out of an international accord designed to protect women from violence, and urged President Tayyip Erdogan to reconsider.

Erdogan’s government on Saturday withdrew from the Istanbul Convention, which it signed onto in 2011 after it was forged in Turkey’s biggest city. Turkey said domestic laws, not outside fixes, would protect women’s rights.

The Council of Europe accord pledged to prevent, prosecute and eliminate domestic violence and promote equality. Killings of women have surged in Turkey in recent years and thousands of women protested on Saturday against the government’s move in Istanbul and other cities.

The United States, Germany, France and the European Union responded with dismay – marking the second time in four days that Europe’s leaders have criticised Ankara over rights issues, after a Turkish prosecutor moved to close down a pro-Kurdish political party.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Turkey’s withdrawal from the accord was “deeply disappointing” and a step backward in efforts to end violence against women globally.

“Around the world, we are seeing increases in the number of domestic violence incidents, including reports of rising femicide in Turkey,” Biden said in a statement on Sunday.

“Countries should be working to strengthen and renew their commitments to ending violence against women, not rejecting international treaties designed to protect women and hold abusers accountable.”

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said late on Saturday that the decision was incomprehensible and “risks compromising the protection and fundamental rights of women and girls in Turkey (and) sends a dangerous message across the world. … We therefore cannot but urge Turkey to reverse its decision.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen – who spoke with Erdogan a day before Turkey ditched the pact – wrote on Twitter on Sunday: “Women deserve a strong legal framework to protect them,” and she called on all signatories to ratify it.

The Council of Europe, which gathers 47 members states and was founded in 1949 to defend human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe, also regretted the decision.

“Leaving the Convention would deprive Turkey and Turkish women of a vital tool to counter violence,” the presidents of the organisation’s Committee of ministers and of the Parliamentary assembly said on Sunday in a joint statement.

The convention had split Erdogan’s ruling AK Party (AKP) and even his family. Officials floated pulling out last year amid a dispute over how to curb domestic violence in Turkey, where femicide has tripled in 10 years, one monitoring group has said.

But many conservatives in Turkey and in Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AKP say the pact undermines family structures, encouraging violence. Some are also hostile to its stance against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.

Paris said Turkey’s withdrawal marked a new regression in respect for human rights, while Berlin said neither culture, religion nor tradition could “serve as an excuse for ignoring violence against women”.

The diplomatic strain comes after Europe and the United States this past week said the move to close down parliament’s third-largest party, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), undermined democracy in Turkey.

In their video call on Friday, Erdogan, Von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel discussed a dispute, which has cooled, over offshore resources in the eastern Mediterranean.

An EU summit this week will address relations with Ankara.

Budapest mayor – Minute of silence to commemorate victims of the pandemic

candle lights

Budapest joins the Eurocities initiation of other European metropolises in which next Wednesday, on the 24th of March, the attendants of the initiation will take a minute of silence to commemorate the victims of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Hvg and the Facebook post of Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest, the initiation will be held at noon and even public transportation will stop for the duration of the mutual commemoration. He said that they would like to share the grief of people who have lost their loved ones and to thank the hard work of those who are directly fighting against the virus and keep our lives safe and running.

Based on the data of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Gergely Karácsony said that following the death rate of Friday and Saturday, Hungary had the highest death rate per one million residents in all of Europe.

https://www.facebook.com/karacsonygergely/posts/4136087183090763

Karácsony also added that in order to successfully be able to combat the pandemic, the more and more heated political arguments should be put aside, since there are no sides in a pandemic, neither in vaccines, only the disease.

He also highlighted that cooperation and solidarity is necessary in such times and welcomed everyone to join the initiative not only just in Budapest.

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Anti-restriction protests all around Europe – United Kingdom and Germany join the fray

London Coronavirus Restriction Protests Koronavírus Lezárás Ellenes Tüntetés

Scuffles broke out as anti-lockdown protesters marched through central London on Saturday, defying police warnings for them to stay away due to coronavirus restrictions.

Police said they had made 33 arrests, most for COVID regulation breaches, after up to 10,000 people gathered

holding banners with slogans such as “Stop Destroying Our Kids’ Lives” and “Fake Pandemic”. Crowded close to one another, protesters also set off flares.

Under England’s coronavirus rules it is unlawful for groups to gather for the purpose of protest, but opposition to such measures has grown this week, not specifically related to anti-lockdown demonstrations.

Police were criticised for using heavy-handed tactics to break up an outdoor vigil for 33-year-old Sarah Everard on March 13. A police officer has been charged with her kidnap and murder.

More than 60 British lawmakers wrote to interior minister Priti Patel on Friday calling for protests to be allowed during lockdown and saying that attending a demonstration should not be a criminal offence.

“We call on you to expressly exempt protests from restrictions on gatherings,” lawmakers, including Conservative Member of Parliament Steve Baker and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said in the letter, which was organised by campaign groups Liberty and Big Brother Watch.

There were three consecutive nights of protest in London earlier this week, fuelled by the police reaction to the vigil for Everard, and anger over government plans to tighten the law on demonstrations.

The interior ministry, known as the Home Office, said when asked about the letter that the COVID-19 stay-at-home order remains in place until March 29, and once it ends protests can resume subject to agreeing to respect social distancing.

“While we are still in a pandemic we continue to urge people to avoid mass gatherings, in line with wider coronavirus restrictions,” a spokeswoman said. Police said people breaching COVID-19 regulations could face fines or arrest.

Reuters also reported about the protests in Germany. Police deployed water cannon and pepper spray after a gathering of some 20,000 protesters against lockdown and other coronavirus rules in central Germany turned violent, with some demonstrators throwing bottles at police.

Protesters from all over Germany converged on the central city of Kassel for the march, which was organised by the “Querdenker” – “Lateral Thinkers” – online conspiracy movement.

“Bottles were thrown and there were attempts to break through barriers,” police said on Twitter.

Police said protesters disobeyed instructions they gave to help ensure people’s safety, including by refusing to wear face masks and observe social distancing guidelines.

Protesters carried placards reading “No compulsory vaccination” and “Democracy will not tolerate censorship”. Marchers faced counter-protesters wearing face masks, one of whom held up a placard reading “Vaccinated”.

With Germany in its fourth month of lockdown and vaccination efforts lagging compared to Britain and the United States, many people, from shopkeepers to would-be holidaymakers, are increasingly restive at the lack of a clear path to a return to normal life.

National and regional leaders are due to consult on Monday over the next steps in the national lockdown. But with case numbers rising sharply thanks to the spread of more infectious variants, many politicians are saying it is too early to ease restrictions.

Europe’s Covid-19 setbacks risk another summer travel washout?

lefkada greece

Europe’s airlines and travel sector are bracing for a second lost summer, with rebound hopes increasingly challenged by a hobbled COVID-19 vaccine rollout, resurgent infections and new lockdowns.

Airline and travel stocks fell on Friday after Paris and much of northern France shut down for a month, days after Italy introduced stiff business and movement curbs for most of the country including Rome and Milan.

The setbacks hit recovery prospects for the crucial peak season, whose profits typically tide airlines through winter, when most carrier lose money even in good times.

“If there’s no confidence there, demand just doesn’t come back,” said Dublin-based Alton Aviation consultant Leah Ryan, who expects the bad news on vaccines and lockdowns to hurt already weak bookings.

As well as new lockdowns, the summer outlook has been dented by rising infections in Greece and elsewhere and a damaging suspension of AstraZeneca’s vaccine by a number of European countries, over health fears rejected by the European Medicines Agency.

Airlines that have already racked up billions in debt face further strain that some may not survive without fresh funds. British Airways owner IAG raised 1.2 billion euros ($1.43 billion) in a bond issue on Thursday, saying the cushion would protect it from a drawn-out slump.

A patchy stop-start summer may pose fewer difficulties for low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and Wizz Air, which can redeploy planes quickly between routes.

But Ryanair’s home market expects to keep strict travel curbs in place at least throughout June, Irish health official Ronan Glynn said on Thursday, citing the “deteriorating situation internationally” and emerging virus variants.

Ryanair shares traded 4.2% lower on Friday, with IAG down 4% and easyJet and Wizz both down 3.5%. Rebound hopes had driven travel stocks higher over the past month, led by IAG’s 25% gain.

While ultra-low cost carriers can take the pain of another summer washout, analysts say, rivals such as easyJet and Virgin Atlantic could face renewed balance-sheet pressures. Air France-KLM is also seeking to raise capital and reduce debt from last year’s 10.4 billion-euro bailout.

The Franco-Dutch airline group aims to fly more than 50% of pre-crisis capacity this year, compared with 40-50% for Lufthansa – targets that could still prove ambitious.

“MAJOR HIT” “There’s a risk of an increased number of bankruptcies particularly between now and the end of the year,” Alexandre de Juniac, head of global airline body IATA, told Reuters.

The latest whiplash in recovery sentiment extends from airlines into hospitality industries and the broader economy, penalizing tourism-dependent Mediterranean countries.

“Virus numbers are going up, the vaccine rollout is falling behind and there is a risk that Europe could lose a second summer,” Morgan Stanley economist Jacob Nell said, predicting a “major hit to the southern economies”.

Thanks to its faster progress on vaccinations, the UK outbound market has been seen as key to the coming European season. But rising European infection rates could threaten those plans too. Greece became Britain’s biggest source of imported cases when the countries opened a travel corridor last summer, according to an official UK study published this week.

Instead, the faster pace of vaccinations in Britain and the United States could bring a transatlantic rebound – even flipping the conventional wisdom that short-haul will recover first.

“These two countries are leading the G20,” with shots administered to 40% of the population in Britain and one-third in the United States, UBS aviation analyst Jarrod Castle said.

“The North Atlantic could open up between (them) before other European markets, which would be greatly beneficial for British Airways.”

Ireland and others join Austria in temporarily suspending AstraZeneca vaccines

astrazeneca vaccine

Ireland temporarily suspended AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday following new information received from the Norwegian Medicines Agency regarding blood clotting in some recipients there, the country’s health ministry said.

Three health workers in Norway who had recently received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine were being treated in hospital for bleeding, blood clots and a low count of blood platelets, its health authorities said on Saturday.

Health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland have suspended the use of the vaccine over the issues, while Austria stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots last week while investigating a death from coagulation disorders.

Ireland’s National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) recommended the temporary deferral of the administration of the vaccine “out of an abundance of caution”, pending the receipt of more information from European regulators in the coming days.

“The decision to temporarily suspend use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine was based on new information from Norway that emerged late last night. This is a precautionary step,” Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said on Twitter.

AstraZeneca vaccinations make up 20% of the 590,000 shots administered among Ireland’s 4.9 million population, mainly to healthcare workers after its use was not initially recommended for those over 70 and the firm supplied far fewer vaccines to the European Union than agreed.

NIAC said that if it could be ascertained that the events were coincidental and not caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine, it would reassess the situation.

Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said she had sought clarification from the British region’s health minister about the temporary suspension of the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine elsewhere.

Like the rest of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland is much further ahead in its programme and has inoculated more than 40% of the adult population, relying heavily on AstraZeneca’s vaccine.

Orbán: Brussels has “messed up” the procurement of coronavirus vaccines

ORBÁN Viktor

Brussels has “messed up” the procurement of coronavirus vaccines, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Sunday, adding that Hungary “would be in big trouble right now” had it not ordered more jabs from the East.

Whereas Israel is “nearly done” vaccinating its population and the United Kingdom has inoculated 30-40 percent of its people, the average vaccination rate in the European Union stands at 6.8 percent, the prime minister told public broadcaster Kossuth Rádió.

“This is a clear indication that something is not right,” Orbán said.

“And this is not a political issue or accusation, nor any kind of antipathy towards EU or Brussels bureaucrats, but facts. This is how it is: they’ve messed up.”

These past weeks, the quantities of vaccine shipments ordered by the EU have either fluctuated or were not being delivered at all, he added.

Asked about plans by Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Latvia to convene an EU summit on the distribution of vaccines, Orbán said the Austrian chancellor was right to want to discuss the matter.

“Something’s not right,” he said, noting that member states had agreed that vaccines would be distributed proportionately, but it was not being done this way. “We’re seeing some countries get more and some less.”

Orbán said that had Hungary not ordered 3.5 million vaccines from China and Russia, with which it has now inoculated 500,000 people, “we’d be in big trouble right now.”

MTI also reported that foreign ministry state secretary Tamás Menczer on Saturday dismissed reports of “problems” experienced with China’s Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine in the United Arab Emirates as “fake news”, saying the story was “the latest leftist and international political attack against the Chinese vaccine”.

In a Facebook post, Menczer cited unconfirmed reports of health authorities in the UAE administering a third dose of the Sinopharm jab to eight people after it was discovered that the two doses they had received had not generated enough antibodies.

He said there would always be vaccine recipients who do not develop a strong enough immune response to the jab they receive. “It has been roughly the same amount in the case of the Chinese vaccine as in those of the so-called Western vaccines,” the state secretary said.

“All they’re doing in the UAE now is giving these people another vaccine dose,” Menczer added.

He said some 6 million people in the country had been administered Sinopharm, adding that the jab had so far been shown to be 100 percent effective in preventing serious Covid-19 cases in Abu Dhabi, the capital.

“That’s a higher effectiveness rate when it comes to severe cases that what we’ve seen from Pfizer in Israel,” he said.

“In other words, there haven’t been any problems with the Chinese vaccine,” Menczer said. “The Chinese vaccine is saving lives in both the UAE and Hungary.”

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The Hungarian forint is plummeting — when will it stop?

forint

The coronavirus pandemic has changed almost everything globally, and it is no different in the case of foreign currency exchange. Unfortunately, the pandemic, which has stayed well over its welcome, had a massive impact on how the Hungarian forint is standing up against other currencies.

Index reports that the exchange rate of HUF has decreased by over 2% in the last month. The overall lowest exchange rate of the Hungarian forint compared to the Euro was around HUF  370 per every one EUR. The HUF has reached that all-time low twice during 2020 and has been already getting close to that in 2021 with HUF 368 per every one EUR last Monday, which was only 0.5% away from the currency’s historical lowest.

The Hungarian forint is not faring good against other currencies either. Compared to the exchange rate of January 1st 2021,

the exchange rate of the forint has decreased by 1.4% compared to the EUR and a shocking 4.5% compared to USD. The 1.1% increase compared to the Swiss franc is among the very few positive changes since then.

Hungarians can be very resourceful. Check out how they have made money on the weak forint.

Index asked two analytics, Zoltán Török from Raiffeisen and Orsolya Nyeste from Erste, who both highlighted that this process is not necessarily only affecting Hungary, but most emerging markets in the EU. The exchange rate of

  • the Polish złoty decreased by 2.77%
  • the Czech koruna decreased by 2.64%
  • and the Hungarian forint decreased by 2.34%.

Orsolya Nyeste said that what is affecting the Hungarian currency are global processes.

“Dollar yields are rising, as are global inflation expectations, so interest rates in Central and Eastern Europe do not seem so attractive to investors,” – she said, adding that generally, the strengthening of the USD – which increased 1.77% compared to the EUR – has a negative effect on the currencies of the emerging markets.

TradingView Hungarian Forint Árfolyam Currency Exchange Rate
The changes in HUF compared to EUR Source: TradingView

“The announcement of new closures ruins the short-term economic outlook, making it more uncertain. This was also clearly visible in the forint’s exchange rate last year, which reacts strongly to [corona]virus news: if the situation worsens, the forint weakens. If it improves, the forint’s exchange rate will stabilise or even strengthen,” – Orsolya Nyeste said.

According to Zoltán Török, one of the reasons for the bad exchange rate of the HUF could be because financial markets have been trying to predict and adapt to the new, overall higher inflation rates coming worldwide, following a generally low inflation rate period of the past few years.

He also highlighted that generally, Central banks can mitigate the weakening of their own country’s currency by raising interest rates. In the case of Hungary, however, this cannot be done, as due to the past year of combating the coronavirus pandemic, the Hungarian budget is in deficit. This concludes that, unfortunately, the current weakening of the HUF cannot be halted yet.

Despite all bad news, the analysts predict that the HUF will stabilise or even slightly strengthen. Zoltán Török from Raiffeisen says that although the weakening will continue for a bit, after a few months, the HUF will start to strengthen again, even reaching under HUF 360 per EUR,

stabilising somewhere between HUF 350-360 against the EUR. Orsolya Nyeste is not that optimistic; she thinks that the Hungarian forint’s exchange rate will stabilise and keep at HUF 365 against the EUR.

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Read alsoShocking! Hungary leads the list of the countries obligated to pay back the most EU money

Hungary already uses Sputnik V, but EMA urges caution? – Vaccine still waiting for EU approval

sputnik vaccine

A senior European Medicines Agency (EMA) official urged European Union members on Sunday to refrain from granting national approvals for Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V while the agency reviews its safety and effectiveness.

“We need documents that we can review. We also don’t at the moment have data…about vaccinated people.

It is unknown. That’s why I would urgently advise against giving a national emergency authorisation,”

EMA managing board head Christa Wirthumer-Hoche told a talk show on Austrian broadcaster ORF.

“We can have Sputnik V on the market here in future when the appropriate data have been reviewed. The rolling review has begun now at EMA,” she added after the agency said last week it had launched such a review.

“Data packages are coming from Russian manufacturers and of course they will be reviewed according to European standards for quality, safety and efficacy.

When everything is proven then it will also be authorised in the European Union,” she added.

Sputnik V has already been approved or is being assessed for approval in three EU member states – Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic – and EU officials have said Brussels could start negotiations with a vaccine maker if at least four member countries request it.

Wirthumer-Hoche said EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) would hold an extraordinary meeting on March 11 to review Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine for use in the EU.

“We expect a positive assessment and that the (European) Commission will quickly grant authorisation,” she added.

Are Merkel’s conservatives part of a face mask scandal?

Merkel Angela

A German lawmaker from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party said on Sunday he would resign “to avert further damage” for receiving payments for brokering procurement deals of facemasks for local authorities.

Nikolas Loebel, a member of Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) party, said on Sunday he would resign as a member of Merkel’s parliamentary group with immediate effect but keep his seat in the Bundestag, the lower house until federal elections scheduled for September.

In a statement, Loebel said he apologized that his conduct did not meet the “special moral duty” of his office.

The resignation comes one week before regional elections in the western states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Wuerttemberg, where Loebel’s constituency is.

The scandal risks stirring more voter disgruntlement after Germany’s ruling coalition of Merkel’s CDU and the centre-left SPD came under fire for a slow COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

CDU-chairman Armin Laschet, a possible contender to succeed Merkel as chancellor, and other leading conservative lawmakers called on Loebel to quit as a member of parliament immediately.

Elected officials seeking gains in their duty to protect against the pandemic “should leave parliament immediately”, Laschet told broadcaster ARD.

Another conservative member of parliament, Georg Nuesslein, on Friday resigned from his post as one of the deputy leaders of Merkel’s parliamentary group, saying he would also not run to keep his seat in parliament in the September elections.

Nuesslein, a member of the CDU’s Bavarian sister party CSU, denies allegations that he took more than 600,000 euros via a consultancy firm for mediating a mask purchase order by the state.

Prosecutors in Munich have said they were investigating initial allegations of bribery against Nuesslein.

Switzerland sparked controversy by passing referendum on banning face coverings

Face Covering Arcelfedés

A far-right proposal to ban facial coverings in Switzerland won a narrow victory in a binding referendum on Sunday instigated by the same group that organised a 2009 ban on new minarets.

The measure to amend the Swiss constitution passed by a 51.2-48.8% margin, provisional official results showed.

The proposal under the Swiss system of direct democracy does not mention Islam directly and also aims to stop violent street protesters from wearing masks, yet local politicians, media and campaigners have dubbed it the burqa ban.

“In Switzerland, our tradition is that you show your face. That is a sign of our basic freedoms,” Walter Wobmann, chairman of the referendum committee and a member of parliament for the Swiss People’s Party, had said before the vote.

He called facial covering “a symbol for this extreme, political Islam which has become increasingly prominent in Europe and which has no place in Switzerland”.

The Central Council of Muslims in Switzerland called the vote a dark day for the community.

“Today’s decision opens old wounds, further expands the principle of legal inequality, and sends a clear signal of exclusion to the Muslim minority,” it said.

It promised legal challenges to laws implementing the ban and a fundraising drive to help women who are fined.

The proposal predated the COVID-19 pandemic, which has required adults to wear masks in many settings to prevent the spread of infection.

Two cantons already have local bans on face coverings.

France banned wearing a full-face veil in public in 2011 and Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands and Bulgaria have full or partial bans on wearing face coverings in public.

Practically no one in Switzerland wears a burqa and only around 30 women wear the niqab, the University of Lucerne estimates. Muslims make up 5% of the Swiss population of 8.6 million people, most with roots in Turkey, Bosnia and Kosovo.

The government had urged people to vote against a ban.

“After the ban on minarets, a majority of Swiss voters has once again backed an initiative that discriminates against a single religious community and needlessly stirs up fears and division,” Amnesty International said.

“The veiling ban is not a measure for women’s liberation, but a dangerous symbolic policy that violates freedom of expression and religion.”

Fidesz lawmaker: V4 countries to fight jointly for post-pandemic position in Europe

visegrád four

The Visegrád Group countries have the opportunity to cooperate in the fight for the region’s position in a post-pandemic Europe, the head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee told an international conference on Saturday.

Zsolt Németh told a discussion at the Europe of the Carpathians conference that the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia were the engines of infrastructure development in the larger central European region.

The Hungarian stretch of the Via Carpathia international road network is slated to be completed this year, he said.

Another important issue will be the region’s ability to bounce back after the coronavirus pandemic, and the position it can acquire in the European Union’s industry policy, its green agreement, and in key economic areas like digitalisation and the rehabilitation of production lines, Nemeth told the conference held in Przemysl, southern Poland, which he attended online due to the pandemic.

Central Europe has a chance to “take huge leaps forward” in those issues, Németh said.

The Visegrád Group should advocate jointly for the interests of its member states in the EU, and “create unity within variety” in debates on the future of the bloc to protect the role of nation states, Nemeth said.

Another important task is to show solidarity with non-EU countries in discussions on the bloc’s enlargement, and to support aspiring EU members in the fight to curb the coronavirus pandemic, he said.

Németh supported the proposal of his Polish counterpart, Marek Kuchcinski, that the V4 parliaments should set up Visegrad Group chapters, which would later hold regular joint sessions.

The 28th Europe of the Carpathians conference will also mark the 30th anniversary of the Visegrád Group, with Kuchcinski inaugurating a memorial plaque later on Saturday.

The parties will sign a regional tourism cooperation agreement during the two-day conference.

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Read alsoAll four Visegrad countries will need nuclear energy, says Hungarian president in Warsaw

European cultural project to kickstart tourism in Hungary after re-opening

Danube Bend, Hungary, Visegrád

Even though Hungary is currently suffering from the third wave of the coronavirus, the country is making preparations to restart life soon.

As we recently wrote, tourism could revive and even explode as the country restarts itself. Although there is no definite date yet when it will happen, and the special legal order was just extended to 90 additional days, Hungary is getting prepared to re-open the best and strongest way possible.

To do so, on 26 February, 

a new project, DANUrB+ of 6 countries situated along the Danube, will kickstart. The online conference aims to help tourism in the region.

András Ambrus, head of press of the Municipal Executive Office of Pest County, said that the new project planned to be elaborated between 2020-2022 is the continuation of a previously successfully conducted research program between 2017-2019, called DANUrB.

Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria will be the 6 countries involved in the programme for which the budget reaches 2.7 million euros, reports turizmus.com. 

The partnership otherwise consisting of 19 partners is made up of 6 universities, research centres and agencies specialised in tourism and regional development, local municipalities, and civil organisations. The programme of this project is developed by the department of urban planning of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics; moreover, the university will be in charge as well.

“The objective of the initiative is to create a comprehensive network based on region and culture, a so-called European Cultural Promenade that would link together communities along the Danube and centralise them into one single tourist destination under a brand name,”

explained András Ambrus.

The project aims to prolong and fill tourists’ time spent in the region with a cultural value apart from simply increasing the number of people arriving in the country. To do so, they offer thematic itineraries and developmental possibilities to the participating countries.

András Ambrus explained the participation of the county municipality with the fact that the Danube itself plays a crucial role in the life of Pest County with its value unique in all of Europe. Moreover, the success of the previous project together with the strengthening of regional cooperation technically obligates the county to continue its participation.

“Local values, cultural heritage, and communities can act as the engine of development, for which DANUrB+ provides professional support in the form of know-how, community, and the possibility for united action.”

They give an enormous amount of help so that many more would get to know these villages and settlements. They help to prepare tender applications and competition plans apart from developing support projects.

From Hungary’s side, Makád, Lórév, Szigetbecse, Szigetszentmásron, Szigetújfalu, Ráckeve, Szob, Ipolydamásd, and Letkés joined the initiative. The new project will focus on villages in a peripherical situation, such as the area of the Csepel Island or the Danube Bend and their peripherical settlements. These places, despite possessing a lot of historic and natural treasures, have not become integral parts of the country’s tourism.

The complete and precise plan of the new phase is still undergoing some planning; however, as early as February, an online conference will be organised as the first event. To continue, based on previous experience, workshops, educational trips, training, and presenting well-working and successful practices will help settlements participating in the project. Moreover, in certain villages, concrete touristic plans will be carried out, added András Ambrus.

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Read alsoBudapest prepares ‘tourism reopening package’ to help hospitality industry