Coronavirus in Hungary

Israel bans travel to Hungary

Besides other nine countries, Israel bans travel to Hungary from the 22nd of December due to high infection rates and rising Omicron cases.

As a result of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant and the ever-increasing number of infections worldwide, Israel has introduced new travel restrictions. Visits by Israelis to South Africa and the vast majority of African countries have been already banned in early December. Not long after that, nine other countries – the UK, Denmark, France, Spain, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates were added to the “red” list, with travel bans already in effect from midnight on Sunday.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Health proposed that 10 more countries should be added to the high-risk areas from the 22nd of December due to their high infection rates. Accordingly, Israel bans travel to the following countries:

the United States, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey as well as Hungary.

The decision was made based on data examined by Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett who predicts a “significant outbreak” in Israel within three weeks. The peak of the wave is expected to exceed the fourth wave caused by the Delta variant which began in June. In addition to the recently annunced travel restrictions, the Prime Minister urged employers to re-introduce work-from-home arrangements as soon as possible.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Health announced that 40 more people had been identified as Omicron carrier. Following that, the number of Omicron infections has increased to 175 in Israel. The majority of the patients either got infected abroad or were in contact with people who transmitted the virus outside of the country. Meanwhile, 17 new carriers got infected in the local community. The only good news is that, so far, there has been only one seriously hospitalised Omicron patient in Israel, who happened to be a non-vaccinated person.

As the Hungarian news portal Turizmus.com reports, Israelis returning from the banned states will be taken to a designated hotel at the airport. Passengers are obliged to stay in mandatory quarantine until their first test results are received at the airport. If their test is negative, they can return home where they must remain in quarantine for seven days even if they have received all the three doses of the vaccine. They can only leave their home once a negative test is produced. Israelis arriving from the high-risk areas will be subject to a three-day home quarantine which lasts until the second negative test result. So far, the new restrictions are in effect until 29th December.

The countries mentioned above on the high-risk “red” list can only be visited with exceptional permission given by a government committee.

Hungary

After the increasing number of Israeli tourists visiting Hungary this summer, a significant decline is expected in December. Thanks to the expanding number of flights between Budapest and Tel Aviv, the planes mainly carried Israeli tourists and dual citizens until the end of October, flying with an average load factor of over 80% since the restart. However, this new travel restriction, as well as the presumably negative evolution of the epidemiological situation in Hungary might cause a dramatic decrease in the number of visitors.

budapest-metro-undergound railway-bkk-bkv 2

Read alsoOmicron to ravage Hungary soon?

December 21, 2021

Could schools close due to mandatory vaccination for teachers?

According to a recent coronavirus-related measure which was introduced by the Hungarian government, healthcare workers, teachers and educators have to be vaccinated. If they fail to do so, they have to take a compulsory leave of absence otherwise their work will be suspended. Trade unions have been organising strikes against mandatory vaccination for teachers.

Compulsory vaccination for employees in education

According to Telex, the initial deadline to abide by this new regulation was 15 December, but the government has extended this period. Unvaccinated teachers and employees working in education have been warned this Monday to take the jab until the 30^th of December. Otherwise, they will not be abe to return to work from the 3^rd of January.

There are many individulas who do not agree with this measure. Last Saturday, residents in Devecser have organised demonstrations to side by teachers who refuse to take the vaccine.

Additionally, Telex reports that both the Teachers’ Union (PSZ) and Teacher’s Democratic Union (PDSZ) will organise strikes on the 31^st of January to call the Government’s attention to the need to raise teachers’ pay as well as to dismiss the mandatory vaccination measure.

The unions said that they would likely hold a strike only during the first two lessons of the class schedule, during which children are advised not to attend school, but they would also organise another strike in March that may last for days if necessary.

According to Péter Horváth, the chairman of the National Faculty of Education, it is expected that about 5-6% of teachers will not take the vaccine.

While this number does not seem that high, Index wrote that some schools would not be able to operate from the 3^rd of January due to lack of teaching staff.

The leader of the teachers’ unions, Zsuzsa Szabó highlighted that some schools may only provide childcare from January as classes cannot be held when there is a dramatic shortage of specialists.

read also: Omicron to ravage Hungary soon?

Next step: mandatory vaccination for students?

Just a few days ago, the Semmelweis University of Medicine and Health Sciences posted on their Facebook page that students are required to take the booster jab in order to continue their studies.

“As a healthcare student, we come into contact with patients on a daily basis during our internships and volunteer work, so we need to protect not only ourselves and our families, but all Hungarian people to whom we commit to serve with our professional knowledge,” – the statement stressed.

The deadline for taking the booster jab is the 1^st of February, Vg reported.

The jab is offered without appointment for all students of the Semmelweis University at any of the three university vaccination points.

Students are exempt from the deadline if:

they received their second jabs (or first in the case of single dose vaccines) within 180 days
those who recovered from Covid infection less than 3 months ago
students who medically prove that they cannot receive the vaccine.

Read alsoSelling Fake vaccine certificates is a booming business in Hungary – VIDEO

December 20, 2021

Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers from Hungary – Dec 20, 2021

Altogether 366 patients died of a Covid-related illness over the weekend, while 10,105 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Monday.

So far 6,226,399 people have received a first jab, while 5,937,305 have been fully vaccinated. Altogether 3,104,194 Hungarians have received a booster jab.

The number of active infections stands at 141,871, while

hospitals are treating 5,537 Covid-19 patients, 503 of whom need respiratory assistance.

Since the first outbreak, 1,228,400 infections have been registered, while

the number of fatalities has risen to 37,896.

Fully 1,048,633 people have made a recovery.

There are 33,383 people in official quarantine, while the number of tests taken stands at 9,014,430.

read more news about Coronavirus in Hungary

Read alsoSelling Fake vaccine certificates is a booming business in Hungary – VIDEO

December 20, 2021

Pope Francis supports Hungarian charity campaig helping covid orphans

Pope Francis is sending a statue of St Joseph to be auctioned at a charity auction organised by Hungarian public media in support of Hungarian orphans who have lost parents to the coronavirus pandemic, Beatrix Siklósi, the director of public broadcaster Kossuth Rádió, said on Sunday.

The statue depicts St Joseph teaching carpentry to the Christ Child, she said.

First Lady Anita Herczegh, the chairwoman of the board of the Regőczi Foundation for children orphaned in the pandemic, noted that the foundation was launched last spring when the number of young parents started succumbing to Covid.

By the start of the charity programme broadcast on the Duna, Duna World, M5 and M4 Sport channels on Sunday morning, the campaign had already collected close to 100 million forints (€ 272,000), Siklósi said.

Various celebrities such as Olympic fencer Áron Szilágyi and epee fencer Tímea Nagy are participating, she said.

On Sunday, more than 304 million forints (€ 845,000) was donated to the campaign, with both national bus carrier Volánbusz and national rail operator MÁV having made contributions.

Róbert Homolya, MÁV’s president and chief executive, said the pandemic had taken a great toll on the company and many of its 56,000 employees, some who had passed away were parents.

Bids for items were up until 10pm, but donation lines are open until the end of the year.

Read alsoHungarian First Lady and Cardinál Erdő gave Christmas presents for 250 children

December 20, 2021

Selling Fake vaccine certificates is a booming business in Hungary – VIDEO

In the case of Hungary, fake vaccine certificates are cheaper than ever.

In August 2021, Euronews wrote that a fake certificate costs 100,000-200,000 forints (EUR 272-544). In July, three women were caught in Budapest selling fake certificates for EUR 164. In November, a 41-year-old nurse and her 47-year-old accomplice helped around 90 people get fake certificates for EUR 134, Daily News Hungary previously wrote.

Now, the price is astonishingly low. While months ago, a fake certificate cost their monthly wage for some people, nowadays, a fake document does not cost more than pocket money.

On December 16, police.hu wrote that proceedings have started against unknown perpetrators. They got involved in bribery and issuing or providing fake covid certificates. Investigators interrogated 24 people as suspects, 2 of whom were detained.

The police accuse two nurses working at a rural hospital of 27 briberies and 27 forged public documents. One of the accused people is a 36-year-old man, another is a 45-year-old woman. The police investigated for months and interrogated another 22 people. One of them is a healthcare worker in a leading position.

The two nurses sold fake certificates for 20,000 (EUR 54) and 40,000 forints (EUR 108).

They changed the documentation of these people to say that they had taken the vaccine, but did not give them the jab. This activity went on for months. Selling these fake vaccine certificates became a source of regular income for the two nurses. Now, the police asked the Komárom-Esztergom County Prosecutor’s Office to make a motion for their arrest.

The case is not unique, however. News about general practitioners and nurses selling fake documents is nothing new. Rumours about which doctor or nurse gives out fake certificates, where they can be found, and how much money they ask for in return are spreading among people.

The interesting part of this case is not how common this new “business” has become but the fact that, at first, people had to pay EUR 272-544, but now, it costs only 54-108 euros to get a false document.

vaccination immunity certificate_hungary

Read alsoHungarian Covid restrictions in detail — Beware of fake immunity certificates

December 19, 2021

Virus-denying Hungarian tried to smash ambulance car

He also accused ambulance workers of using pre-infected tests.

The issue of Covid often breeds tension. Sometimes, even strangers start arguing just walking on the street or while on public transportation. This time, the story went even further when a virus-denying man tried to smash an ambulance car in the village of Tab in Somogy County, close to Lake Balaton.

The world’s dumbest assumption is that students at the National Ambulance Service go to sample patients suspected of Covid because they want to maintain the appearance of a coronavirus epidemic with pre-infected tests. Yet this was assumed by the man from Somogy County, who aggressively attacked two young sampling volunteers in the village of Tab yesterday, communicates the Facebook page of the Ambulance Service.

The virus-sceptic man walked down the street to the professionals and demanded that the freshly taken samples be handed to him.

However, the experts did not hand over the samples, so the man attacked them. The two young colleagues eventually fled into the ambulance car. The man continued yelling at the vehicle, hitting it with his fists. Unable to obtain the samples, he left the scene only after a few minutes.

The police quickly identified the man, found and prosecuted him, says 24.hu.

Conflict in Budapest last week

Last week, there was another conflict about Covid in Budapest. That time, passengers almost hit a virus denier for not wearing a mask on the tram.

The situation quickly escalated between the two sides. An older woman said that the other passengers

“believe in propaganda” and “experimental vaccines”.

The scene ended with people shouting, and a man started yelling at the top of his lungs.

There was also a video published about the conflict. In the video, we can see an older woman who did not wear a mask. Someone told her to “shut up”. Another passenger told her to “put her mask on or get off” the tram. A very angry man started yelling at that point, telling the elderly person that it is because of people like her that people have to cope with the pandemic. He added that the whole pandemic would be over if the old person and people with a similar mindset “would not be this stupid”.

Read more and watch the video here: Passengers almost hit a virus denier for not wearing a mask on a tram – VIDEO

December 18, 2021

Number of new infections decreased in Hungary

Altogether 154 patients died of a Covid-related illness over the past 24 hours, while 4,977 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Friday.

So far 6,208,430 people have received a first jab, while 5,923,284 have been fully vaccinated. Altogether 3,065,350 Hungarians have received a booster jab.

The number of active infections stands at 154,511, while

hospitals are treating 5,856 Covid-19 patients, 519 of whom need respiratory assistance.

Since the first outbreak, 1,218,295 infections have been registered, while the number of fatalities has risen to 37,530. Fully 1,026,254 people have made a recovery.

There are 45,852 people in official quarantine, while the number of tests taken stands at 8,947,845.

Read alsoOmicron to ravage Hungary soon?

December 17, 2021

Omicron to ravage Hungary soon?

The latest version of the coronavirus, the Omicron variant has already been detected in Hungary. It is still unknown though how much danger this latest variant will pose to the population. A Hungarian university professor presents the projected situation by using a foreign example.

New study on the Omicron variant

The Omicron variant has been detected in Hungary. Gábor Vattay, the head of the Department of Physics of Complex Systems at Eötvös Loránd University, shared his predictions regarding the Hungarian viral situation. “We can now estimate the extent of the Omicron variant’s presence in the country after the new variant has been identified in Hungary,” Vattay began his analysis.

It is still unclear which virus variant is the most dominant in the country.

In order to get a closer understanding, Vattay examined international data to predict the rate of the future domestic cases, writes portfolio.hu. The international figures demonstrate how fast the Omicron variant spreads after its first appearance. In Denmark, they have been monitoring closely the pace of the viral mutation’s spread.

In Denmark, 13 pc of all coronavirus cases are currently Omicron variants.

“It is estimated that Omicron cases will reach 50 pc by Tuesday. And by Christmas, virtually all Danish cases will be Omicron,” Vattay concluded his analysis.

What will the future hold?

In the Danish cases, a very steep rise can be observed. A similar trend can be seen in the UK as well. With a prevalence of about 5-10 pc, there is a sharp increase in the number of cases per day. In the case of Hungary, we cannot yet experience this leap.

The Omicron variant may be below 5 pc in Hungary.

However, two cases have already been reported in Hungary when the infected people did not spend time abroad. Taken this into consideration, we can conclude that the latest variant of the virus has started spreading in Hungary as well. “Since the Omicron infections double every 3 days, disease rates rise rapidly which should be visible on the daily case count curves within the next three weeks,” the expert believes.

It would be important to estimate an exact proportion by sampling. This would allow to construct a more realistic epidemic curve and draw a more accurate conclusion. Currently, the Delta virus variant is the most common in Hungary, writes felvidek.ma. However, that may change soon.

December 16, 2021

Number of deaths, new infections still very high

Altogether 144 patients died of a Covid-related illness over the past 24 hours, while 5,298 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Thursday.

So far 6,200,040 people have received a first jab, while 5,914,603 have been fully vaccinated. Altogether 3,043,950 Hungarians have received a booster jab. The number of active infections stands at 159,853, while hospitals are treating 6,109 Covid-19 patients, 542 of whom need respiratory assistance.

Since the first outbreak, 1,213,318 infections have been registered, while the number of fatalities has risen to 37,376. Fully 1,016,089 people have made a recovery.

There are 45,659 people in official quarantine, while the number of tests taken stands at 8,919,775.

Read alsoTragic! Many children with Covid-19 are in intensive care

December 16, 2021

Important decision made about pandemic management today!

In view of the current pandemic situation, the government has decided to extend the coronavirus-related state of medical preparedness until June 18, 2022, the human resources ministry said on Thursday.

“The prolongation is necessary because the coronavirus pandemic is still prevalent around the world. It is prevalent in Europe and in Hungary, the number of infections is high and the

Omicron variant is present in the country,”

the ministry said in a statement.

The government and the operative board in charge of pandemic response will continue to closely monitor the situation and, if necessary, take additional measures to enhance protection, it said. The state of medical preparedness will allow for swift government response and decisions in the interest of protecting people’s health, the statement added.

Read alsoTragic! Many children with Covid-19 are in intensive care

December 16, 2021

Tragic! Many children with Covid-19 are in intensive care

The pandemic is affecting children more seriously than many people would assume.

Surviving the pandemic seems to be easier for those who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus. They can somewhat get back to a sense of normality without the numerous restrictions. Others are looking at the situation from another perspective, thinking not only about their freedom but also about the protection and safety of others. There are people, however, who are anti-vax or simply wait for another vaccine to be available, such as Novavax. But there is one demographic that is not often mentioned in the discussions about the pandemic, a demographic that many people thought were protected against the virus.

While there is a misinformation that children do not get infected with the virus, the truth is far from it. Many children with Covid-19 were taken to intensive care and put on ventilators. There were 100 children with Covid-19 in intensive care during the third wave of the pandemic. Many of these young patients are under the age of 10. If they survive and recover, they will be protected against the virus for only half a year.

Fifty children with Covid-19 were taken to the Heim Pal Children’s Hospital since January. The chief medical officer of the hospital told RTL that even healthy children can get the virus and badly suffer from the consequences.

Currently, Pfizer is the only vaccine that can be administered to children. Portfolio writes that 69,000 doses of the vaccine suitable for children aged between 5 and 11 have arrived to Hungary. One hundred cars started delivering the vaccines at 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

The first doses arrived at the Heim Pál Children’s Hospital in Budapest. The hospital functions as a logistic center. They received 600 vaccines, out of which 342 would be taken to Semmelweis University, Dél-pesti Centrumkórház (South Pest Central Hospital), and Szent János Hospital. The vaccines that arrived in Budapest are sufficient for 36,000 children.

December 15, 2021

Travel issues of people with Eastern jabs to be solved?

An MEP for the opposition Socialist party has called on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to seek out a solution at the upcoming EU summit to the travel restrictions of some 2 million Hungarians inoculated with Chinese and Russian Covid vaccines.

Recipients of the Sinopharm and Sputnik vaccines cannot travel freely in Europe because the jabs are not accredited by the bloc, Istvan Ujhelyi told an online press conference on Wednesday.

Újhelyi said the government had failed to raise the issue in the European Health Security Committee. He called on the prime minister to insist that the summit finds a solution to the situation of Hungarians “who

have become second-class EU citizens”

because of the “dubious purchase of the so-called Eastern vaccines”.

Read also: You can travel to this country with your immunity certificate from today!

“The government has done nothing about the issue, only seven member states have so far signed bilateral agreements on accepting the Eastern vaccines,” Újhelyi said.

The government could solve the bind by concluding bilateral agreements with all member states on accepting the Russian and Chinese vaccines,

Újhelyi said. Another solution would be that the EU accepts an EU-accredited booster jab after two Eastern vaccines as full inoculation, he said.

Read alsoCould the Omicron variant end the pandemic? – Katalin Karikó is hopeful

December 15, 2021

New Hungarian test to detect all variants + latest COVID news

A Hungarian company developed a unique PCR test capable of detecting 99 pc of the known coronavirus variants, including the newest, omicron. Made by Femtonics Ltd, the test is easy to use. Meanwhile, the fourth wave of the pandemic is still raging in Hungary. Check out the latest news and data in the article.

Based on the company’s statement, the test can show the presence of the virus in just 4-10 minutes. Its efficacy is almost 100 pc – index.hu reported. Neuroscientist and practising doctor, Balázs Rózsa, said that one of the benefits of their genetics-based test is it can detect all virus and bacteria variants. The CEO and founder of the company added that the cost of their process is low. Therefore,

it might be capable of revolutionizing lab diagnostics.

Meanwhile, altogether

153 patients died of a Covid-related illness over the past 24 hours,

while 5,506 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Wednesday. So far 6,194,221 people have received a first jab, while 5,906,701 have been fully vaccinated. Altogether 3,028,149 Hungarians have received a booster jab.

Read also: Hungarian parliament prolongs Covid-related special measures

The number of active infections stands at 165,202, while hospitals are treating 6,337 Covid-19 patients, 540 of whom need respiratory assistance. Since the first outbreak, 1,208,020 infections have been registered, while the number of fatalities has risen to 37,232. Fully

1,005,586 people have made a recovery.

There are 42,569 people in official quarantine, while the number of tests taken stands at 8,890,023.

Read alsoHungarian discovery: This can triple the chance of survival for COVID-19 patients

December 15, 2021

Hungarian discovery: This can triple the chance of survival for COVID-19 patients

Hungarian doctors have reached a new significant milestone in the fight against the coronavirus. Based on their results, the antidepressant fluoxetine can triple the chance of survival for COVID-19 patients.

It is a well-known fact that stress has a negative effect on our health. Furthermore, it can even worsen the situation in the case of a serious illness. Based on this factor, the Hungarian medical team came up with a creative solution. Their primary purpose was to decrease the Covid-fueled fear of death and anxiety in patients by using medication as effectively as possible. However, they discovered the most potent molecule against Covid during their experiments.

During the case-control study, it has been noticed that the mortality rate decreased by a third among those Covid infected patients who were prescribed an antidepressant called fluoxetine.

The initial aim of the use of the antidepressant fluoxetine was to improve the overall psychological and physical well-being of people infected with Covid. András Holló, neurologist, rehabilitation psychiatrist and project leader of the study team revealed that serotonin-based antidepressants, such as fluoxetine, have been poven to be effective against hepatitis C and some other viruses in laboratory settings for many years. Accordingly, their curative effect was already known before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. This led the study team to conclude that serotoninergic antidepressants may also be able to suppress the so-called cytokine storm, known as the fatal consequence of Covid infection.

The effects of antidepressants could only be accurately evaluated once the third wave had subsided, following highly complex analyses by mathematical statisticians. When analysing the medical records of patients treated between 17 March and 22 April 2021, the Hungarian medical team observed encouraging results in the case of patients treated with the antidepressants. Accordingly, the utilised fluoxetine antidepressant reduced mortality by a third in the Covid ward of the Budapest Uzsoki hospital.

The antidepressant fluoxetine tripled the chance of survival for COVID-19 patients.

According to András Hollós, this is an absolutely unprecedented result because the Covid drugs that have been tried so far did not even come close to this efficacy.

As the Hungarian news portal Index reports, the medical team is now working to present their findings in scientific format as soon as possible. The results have already been published in English in the Journal of Neurology, an internationally indexed and listed journal. The next step is to present their findings to decision-makers, including professional colleagues as well as ministerial and academic committees, at both national and international levels.

Read alsoNew Hungarian coronavirus test detects 99% of the variants in 6-10 minutes

December 14, 2021

Hungarian parliament prolongs Covid-related special measures

Lawmakers on Tuesday voted to prolong the special measures related to the coronavirus pandemic until June 1, 2022.

The motion was passed with 133 votes in favour, 2 against and no abstentions.

The government says its proposal to extend the measures would continue to allow it to be flexible in its response to the challenges posed by the pandemic.

If the status of the pandemic allows, the government will initiate lifting the special measures before their expiration, according to the justification of the bill.

István György, the state secretary for regional administration of the Prime Minister’s Office, said in the bill’s parliamentary debate that

the law would not affect the general election set to be held sometime next spring, adding that referendums could also be held while the measures are in effect.

read also: Hungary surpasses 37,000 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began

Lawmakers last extended the special measures in September until Dec. 31.

Parliament also voted to extend the moratorium on loan repayments until June 30, 2022.

Read alsoBreaking news – Omicron variant present in Hungary!

December 14, 2021

Katalin Karikó’s team is chosen as Hero of the Year by TIME

According to the magazine, the miracle workers behind the COVID-19 vaccines channeled their ambitions to the common good, talked to one another and trusted in facts.

This year the acknowledgments were given to professionals who played a significant role in developing the vaccines against Covid-19. These hardworking heroes are Kizzmekia Corbett, Barney Graham, Katalin Karikó and, last but not least, Drew Weissman.

Katalin Karikó grew up in a small town in Hungary. She studied biology at the University of Szeged where she first learned about RNA. Her interest in this branch of science continued as she pursued higher education getting a master’s degree and then a Ph.D., writes Time. She worked at the Biological Research Centre at Szeged, but after her unsuccessful attempt in corralling mRNA, she lost funding to her laboratory.

The now world-famous scientist was perseverent and dedicated to her mission. She decided not to give up on her goal and found a position at Temple University in Philadelphia. Despite her effort, there was an obstacle she had to overcome.

Hungarian citizens were not allowed to take more than $50 with them when they left the country. This measure was taken by the government to ensure that citizens would not become defectors. The Hungarian scientist, however, had a solution to this issue. She and her husband sold their car for $1,200, and hid the cash in their daughter’s teddy bear.

Time presents Karikó as a perseverant woman who is fully dedicated to science. When she moved to the University of Pennsylvania in 1989 there were very few people working on mRNA. She spent long hours at the laboratory and applied for grants every month. According to her, she got rejected at least 24 times, but she always wanted to know the reason for the rejection and the ways she could improve her work.

Once again, after 6 years, her efforts seemed unappreciated and she lost funding to the lab for the second time. She moved to the neurosurgery department to earn a living, but continued her research.

She met immunologist and physician Drew Weissman by the copy machine at the office. They struck up a conversation and she managed to convince Weissman about the importance of mRNA research. Afterwards, the two scientists worked together for more than a decade.

In 2005, their results were published in the journal Immunity, and they were looking towards the future with high expectations. Yet their hopes did not seem to blossom.

It took a pandemic for the world to understand the value of Kariko’s work – the magazine writes. In 2013, Kariko joined BioNTech to participate in the mRNA program. By this time, Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci, co-founders of BioNTech, were already working on mRNS. Although, they initially had a different goal. The two co-founders tried to develop a vaccine against cancer. When Chinese researchers provided information about the coronavirus, Karikó and Weissman could finally put their knowledge into practice. Then the German company partnered with Pfizer and the rest is history.

In the meantime, Kizzmekia Corbett and Dr. Barney Graham were central figures in developing Moderna’s vaccine. The four scientists finally reaped the success of their hard work and received the acknowledgments they deserved.

And to combat the false and skeptical rumours about the vaccine, there is one more thing to add. Contrary to the misinformation, both Weissman and Karikó have taken the vaccine that they developed themselves. The duo got their first dose on 18 December last year.

Read alsoBreaking news – Omicron variant present in Hungary!

Read alsoCould the Omicron variant end the pandemic? – Katalin Karikó is hopeful

December 14, 2021

Hungary surpasses 37,000 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began

grief mourning obituary black hungarian flag hungary

Altogether 195 patients died of a Covid-related illness over the past 24 hours , while 3,575 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Tuesday.

So far 6,192,253 people have received a first jab, while 5,900,371 have been fully vaccinated. Altogether 3,014,936 Hungarians have received a booster jab.

The number of active infections stands at 168,918, while

hospitals are treating 6,507 Covid-19 patients, 563 of whom need respiratory assistance.

read also: Omicron variant present in Hungary!

Since the first outbreak, 1,202,514 infections have been registered, while

the number of fatalities has risen to 37,079.

Fully 996,517 people have made a recovery.

There are 40,518 people in official quarantine, while the number of tests taken stands at 8,868,961.

Read more news about Coronavirus in Hungary

Read alsoCould the Omicron variant end the pandemic? – Katalin Karikó is hopeful

December 14, 2021

Breaking news – Omicron variant present in Hungary!

The Omicron coronavirus variant has been detected in Hungary, according to Cecília Müller, the chief medical officer.

The omicron variant has been detected in two people, Müller told public television current affairs channel M1 on Monday.

She noted that

the Delta variant is still by far the most dominant variant in Hungary.

Today omicron variant was detected in two laboratory samples, Müller said. She added,

one of the infected has mild symptoms, the other is in a moderate condition and is in hospital.

Chief medical officer added that the omicron variant is already spreading in Europe, so it was to be expected that this strain would also appear in Hungary.

She also said that further observations and research on the omicron variant are ongoing.

read also: Could the Omicron variant end the pandemic? – Katalin Karikó is hopeful

The programme also said that the national health officer believes that

the third vaccine is now more important than ever.

The Hungarian-owned diagnostic laboratory Neumann Labs informed MTI in a statement that the two confirmed cases of infection with the omicron variant so far have been identified at Neumann Labs, and that

the mutation infected a couple whose members had not visited abroad, so they must have contracted the disease at home.

In addition to the confirmed omicron infection of the couple,

the Hungarian lab is investigating other suspicious cases,

they added.

They said the Hungarian laboratory’s recently introduced new PCR test can detect all new coronavirus infections and separately detect whether the latest omicron mutation caused them.

read also: Hungarian Olympic champion in critical condition due to coronavirus

Read alsoPassengers almost hit a virus denier for not wearing a mask on a tram – VIDEO

December 13, 2021