coronavirus

Impact of COVID-19 on businesses

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The outbreak of a pandemic in 2019 set in motion a cascade of events that disrupted the entire world. Its impact was widespread across sectors forcing a rethink of methods and approaches. The unemployment rate increased, and the global economy shrank by 4.4% in 2020, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

One such sector that has been impacted by the outbreak of the pandemic is the business sector. Measures enacted to curtail the spread of the virus, particularly the locking down of cities, hit business operations hard. This left many businesses gasping for breath.

Two years down the line, and with vaccines against COVID-19 now available, many countries are in remission as are the different sectors. How is the business sector faring? Here’s a rundown of different ways that COVID-19 has impacted the business sector.

Auto-industry

A McKinsey estimate suggests that the pandemic may have wiped as much as $100 billion of the auto industry in 2020 alone. This is because many people now feel safer staying indoors than moving around. There is also increased use of online shopping and payment channels. More so, the rise of driverless cars, automated factories, and ridesharing also set businesses in this sector aback.

Restaurant

There is still an aversion to indoor dining in the post-crisis world. This may continue for years. Thus, many more restaurants are looking towards optimizing their online ordering, and their delivery services. Drive-through options must also be considered and optimized while menus and pricing must undergo reengineering to motivate customers.

Fintech Industry

The race to embrace cryptocurrencies, NFTs and blockchain are massive. There is growing mainstream adoption of blockchain solutions and cryptocurrencies as people seek to take charge of their finances. This is such a fast-paced industry that business news daily changes. As new banks and financial institutions are springing up, old ones are diversifying into offering crypto exposure for their investors.

Insurance

COVID-19 expressed the uncertainty of the future in better ways than any insurance firm ever could in their marketing drives. Consequently, more people have been embracing the idea of having an insurance plan. The pandemic also justified the launch of new pandemic-focused products by several companies.

Healthcare

COVID-19 caused an acceleration in the growth of digital healthcare and telemedicine. McKinsey reports that in 2019, 11% of US customers used telehealth. This figure grew to 46% in 2020 as people sought to replace canceled healthcare visits. Also, with the widespread of information on the internet about safety and health, more people are taking precautions to reduce the need for hospital visits.

Education

The world has found online and remote learning and it will never remain the same. Many more educational institutions are beginning to reengineer their learning spaces to accommodate these innovations. Also, more people have resorted to homeschooling their wards. Any educational institution that doesn’t embrace online learning will likely fall out of popularity, and quickly too.

Aviation Industry

Businesses in the aviation sector are one of the worst-hit. Following a decade of consistent growth in global passenger traffic, the COVID-19 pandemic brought passenger traffic to an all-time low. A report estimates that air traffic is down by at least two-thirds. With restrictions still on entry in many countries, the aviation sector doesn’t look set for recovery yet.

Tourism Industry

Tourism is one of the sectors most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with businesses, public services, and opportunities on all continents affected. The industry which is singlehandedly responsible for 10% of the world’s GDP has suffered a huge contraction. Like the aviation sector, with restrictions still in place on movement, businesses that depend on tourism have also suffered a negative impact.

Bottom Line

There is no gainsaying about the widespread impact of COVID-19 on the business sector. Thankfully, the world is in recovery, and with it, all sectors of the economy of nations including the business sector are set to take a deep dive into the new normal.

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

The Hungarian Femtonics Ltd. has developed a unique PCR test, which among other bacterial or viral infections, is able to detect 99% of the coronavirus variants, including the new rapidly spreading Omicron mutant. In addition, the test result can be expected within 6-10 minutes.

The Hungarian Femtonics Ltd. has developed the revolutionary PCR test with the support of the Ministry of Finance under the Health Industry Support Program. According to the head of the chemistry department of the company, the easy-to-use isothermal polymerase chain reaction (iPCR) test for Sars-Cov-2 detects 99% of the coronavirus mutants.

The Hungarian-developed supertest is also able to detect the latest Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The latter is becoming an increasingly important issue, as the new mutant spreads four times faster than the previous variants. As Helló Magyar reports, it has already been detected in 38 countries and has caused millions of infections worldwide. The Omicron mutant originated from Africa, has recently reached Europe, America and Australia as well.

Read also: 500,000 get Covid jabs during vaccination drive, a new variant not detected in Hungary

The sampling process is similar to normal PCR tests. The sample is taken from the nasal or oral cavity. However, the testing time is significantly shortened.

It takes only 6-10 minutes to get the results of the new coronavirus test.

According to Balázs Rózsa, founder and owner of Femtonics Ltd., the new test is an ultra-fast, extremely sensitive and cost-effective solution that can revolutionise lab diagnostics in the future. Namely, it can be extended to all new and future virus strains and can be quickly adapted to any other bacterial or viral infections.

The expert also added that the freshly developed test is an innovative and low-cost method of protection that can help the normal functioning of companies and communities where hundreds or thousands of people work and live together on a daily basis – reported by Portfolio.

Coronavirus hospital
Read alsoNew statistics show how many vaccinated people are treated in Hungarian hospitals

Number of active infections stands at 187,208 – latest numbers from Hungary

healthcare-doctor-hospital-virus

Altogether 224 patients died of a Covid-related illness during the past 24 hours, while 4,311 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Tuesday.

So far 6,162,758 people have received a first jab, while 5,870,466 have been fully vaccinated. Altogether 2,790,263 Hungarians have received a booster jab.

The number of active infections stands at 187,208, while

hospitals are treating 7,568 Covid-19 patients, 618 of whom need respiratory assistance.

Since the first outbreak, 1,161,879 infections have been registered, while

the number of fatalities has risen to 35,835.

Fully 938,836 people have made a recovery.

There are 45,198 people in official quarantine, while the number of tests taken stands at 8,679,620.

Omicron variant coronavirus
Read alsoThese are the positive and negative news about the new Omicron variant

These are the positive and negative news about the new Omicron variant

Omicron variant coronavirus

The freshly detected Omicron mutant can infect four times faster than the previous variants of the coronavirus. Up to now, the new mutant has been detected in 38 countries and has caused millions of infections worlwide. The good news is that no fatalities caused by the Omicron mutant have been recorded so far.

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus was discovered at the end of last month. Since then, the new mutant has spread extremely rapidly on a global level, causing significant concern among health professionals. So far, it has been detected in 38 countries and millions of infections have been reported by researchers, the majority of which have been registered in Africa. Here, the number of infections increased from 2,300 to 16,000 within a week until last Friday – reported by Portfolio.

On a global scale, the latest areas where the new mutant was registered are the United States and Australia. As the Hungarian news portal Helló Magyar reports, the WHO has issued several reports on the two most important properties of Omicron, the severity of the infectivity, and the disease it causes.

Experience to date has shown that the new variant causes mild symptoms but the disease spreads extremely rapidly.

Based on current data, the Omicron mutant infects nearly four times easier than the previous variants. This also explains the rapid growth of infections in Africa that has recently reached Europe, America, and Australia as well. Still, every cloud has a silver lining.

Read also: 500,000 get Covid jabs during vaccination drive, a new variant not detected in Hungary

The good news is that no fatal case, where Omicron was registered as the cause of death, has been reported to the World Health Organization so far.

Nevertheless, further observations have been made, suggesting that those who have previously faced the disease, precisely because of the large number of mutations, are almost as exposed to re-infection as those who have not been attacked by any of the variants so far.

The negative effects of the recently detected Omicron mutant can also be observed in the tourism sector. Due to the increasing number of cases and the re-imposed restrictions, the Hungarian low-cost airline Wizzair has been experiencing a significant decrease in the number of bookings. In some countries, including Israel, the United Kingdom and Morocco, they have already had to reduce the number of flights specifically due to the decrease in demand resulting from the emergence of the Omicron variant. According to the Hungarian travel agencies, customers’ booking habits have significantly changed as a result of the pandemic. The majority of tourists book relatively late, a few days prior to their departure. Still, it is encouraging that the demand to travel is much higher during the Christmas-New Year period compared to last year – reported by Mfor.

wizz air success
Read alsoWizzAir: 90 pc of the crew members vaccinated

New statistics show how many vaccinated people are treated in Hungarian hospitals

Coronavirus hospital

The Hungarian Doctors’ Association has conducted a non-representative study about the status of patients treated in the intensive care unit in Hungarian hospitals.

According to Hellómagyar, the Association has examined the case of 125 patients to conclude the following data.

What are the conditions of the examined 125 patients?

  • 70 people are intubated under anaesthesia while on ventilators
  • 35 people receive non-invasive (out of body) respiratory assistance
  • 20 people need to be administered oxygen

What is the distribution of the examined 125 people in relation to their vaccination status?

  • 87 people have received no vaccination
  • 31 people have been vaccinated over four months ago
  • 7 people have been vaccinated within the last four months (2 of them have had their booster jab)

The Hungarian Doctors’ Association has highlighted that there were great differences between people who have received their vaccination and those who have not, as well as between people who are intubated and those who are not.

They also said that people who have received their vaccination and are in the hospitals are usually people born in the 1930s and 1950s.

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What vaccines did the people who were administered to hospital care get?

  • 15 people were administered the Sinopharm vaccine
  • 7 people were administered Astra-Zeneca
  • 5 people were administered Pfizer-BioNTech
  • 5 people were administered Janssen
  • 4 people were administered Sputnik V
  • 1 person was administered Moderna
  • 1 person received only one dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine over four months ago

Dr Gábor Zacher, a toxicology specialist, says that, unfortunately, Hungary is in the 5th worst place in terms of Covid deaths per 1 million capita. This could be due to the overall bad health of Hungarians.

On a different note, Hungarian research found that anti-depressants could help mitigate the symptoms of patients who have serious pneumonia caused by the coronavirus.

Index writes that the research was conducted in the Semmelweis University’s teaching hospital on Uzsoki Street back between March 17 and April 22. During that period, the medical experts examined 269 patients. The patients, on top of normal care, received direct treatment against coronavirus (favipiravir, remdevisir and other medications).

The research found that the mortality rate of the group who had received fluoxetine significantly – 70%, to be exact – decreased.

The finding of this Hungarian research seems to correlate with international data of Stanford and California universities that show that certain anti-depressants, such as fluoxetine, could bolster our defences against the coronavirus pandemic.

Hungary-government-info
Read alsoImportant changes to come in immunity certificates in Hungary!

Hungary reports 489 COVID-19 deaths over the weekend – latest numbers

coronavirus hospital

Altogether 489 patients died of a Covid-related illness over the weekend, while 22,699 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Monday.

So far 6,159,926 people have received a first jab, while 5,867,068 have been fully vaccinated. Altogether 2,765,500 Hungarians have received a booster jab.

The number of active infections stands at 189,753, while

hospitals are treating 7,440 Covid-19 patients, 586 of whom need respiratory assistance.

Since the first outbreak, 1,157,568 infections have been registered, while

the number of fatalities has risen to 35,611.

Fully 932,204 people have made a recovery.

There are 48,217 people in official quarantine, while the number of tests taken stands at 8,666,739.

Hungary-government-info
Read also Government not to follow Austrian restrictions

Vaccination week ‘very successful’ in Hungary, says medical officer

Vaccination campaign in Hungary.

Hungary’s vaccination campaign last week was hugely successful, according to the chief medical officer, so a decision has been made to extend it by one week.

Fully 784,000 people were jabbed last week, with 643,000 getting a booster shot, Cecília Müller said. “This is very important,” she added, noting that the virus was mutating at a mounting rate.

It was especially welcome that

96,000 people opted for a first jab during the special vaccination week, she added.

The Hungarian authorities are continually monitoring the omicron variant, she said in a video on the government’s social media platform on Monday.

The national public health centre conducted more than 400 tests going back five days to determine whether omicron was present in Hungary, but it has not been detected, she said.

The government is examining whether or not to declare Covid-19 immunity certificates as expired six or seven months after the date of the second vaccination, but has taken no decision yet, details HERE.

Read alsoThis is how effective the vaccines in Hungary are

Orbán cabinet is reviewing the deadline for the expiry of immunity certificates

vaccination hungary

The government is examining whether or not to declare Covid-19 immunity certificates as expired six or seven months after the date of the second vaccination, but has taken no decision yet, Antal Rogán, the cabinet chief, said during his annual hearing in parliament’s economic committee on Monday.

Thanks to its vaccination drive, Hungary was the first to relaunch the country, Rogán said.

“It is now a priority that as many people as possible take up a booster jab which is the only way to prevent or flatten the curve of a fifth wave of the coronavirus epidemic,” he said.

To help attain this goal, the government will launch further national coronavirus vaccination campaigns next month and in January, Rogán said, adding that additional “personal campaigns” were also planned in cooperation with health authorities.

“A booster jab is all the more important because most people got inoculated by the end of June and these vaccines lose much of their effectiveness in preventing infection after four to six months,”

he said.

Factory-vaccine-Hungary
Read also Hungary to produce Chinese Sinopharm vaccines!

Hungary’s COVID-related fatalities rose to 34,326

coronavirus hungary hospital

Altogether 460 patients died of a Covid-related illness during the weekend, while 27,830 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Monday.

So far 6,120,959 people have received a first jab, while 5,839,078 have been fully vaccinated. Altogether 2,477,399 Hungarians have received a booster jab.

The number of active infections stands at 185,141, while hospitals are treating 7,438 Covid-19 patients,

538 of whom need respiratory assistance.

Since the first outbreak, 1,096,718 infections have been registered, while

the number of fatalities has risen to 34,326.

Fully 877,251 people have made a recovery.

There are 52,452 people in official quarantine, while the number of tests taken stands at 8,423,435.

Coronavirus
Read alsoDo Hungarian authorities hide the most crucial COVID data?

Hungary joins restrictions on travellers from southern Africa over new Covid variant

Travel Restrictions

Hungary is joining a host of other countries in restricting air travel from the southern African region in an effort to contain a highly mutated variant of the coronavirus identified there, the Government Information Centre (KTK) said on Saturday.

The Council of the European Union on Friday debated response measures to the newly-identified B.1.1.529 South African coronavirus variant and recommended pulling an “emergency brake” and imposing temporary restrictions on non-essential travel from southern Africa. Member states agreed on the need for the introduction of restrictions.

The Council proposed requiring travellers from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to be tested for coronavirus and quarantined upon arrival in the EU.

Hungary has started preparing its own response measures, KTK said, adding that the government is expected to issue a decree in the matter later.

Egypt and Maldives to honour Hungarian immunity certificates

Hungarian Christmas fairs that you can visit only with an immunity certificate

Under the government decree published in the official gazette Magyar Közlöny on Saturday afternoon, Hungarian nationals who arrive from southern Africa or have visited the region in the two weeks prior to returning home will have to quarantine for a period of 14 days.

The restrictions apply to arrivals from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Hungarians returning from the region will be required to enter a designated or official home quarantine regardless of whether or not they are suspected of having contracted the virus.

The decree bans entry to all non-Hungarian citizens from the region with the exception of those given special permission by the authorities. Foreign nationals given permission to enter are still required to quarantine for a full 14 days even if they produce a negative PCR test.

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

Egypt and Maldives to honour Hungarian immunity certificates

Covid Passport Coronavirus Passport

Hungary has agreed with Egypt and the Maldives to mutually recognise Covid immunity certificates, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Saturday.

Under the agreement with Egypt, Hungarians who have been inoculated against Covid can enter the country without restriction from Tuesday, with only unvaccinated children between the ages of 6 and 18 needing to present a Covid test upon entry, the minister said in a video on Facebook.

From Wednesday, vaccinated Hungarian and Maldivian citizens over 18 can enter each other’s countries with an immunity certificate, while minors can enter unrestricted, Szijjártó said.

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Hungary has now reached agreements on mutual recognition of Covid immunity certificates with over 20 countries, he said:

  • Albania
  • Bahrain
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Republic of North Macedonia
  • Georgia
  • Croatia
  • India
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Morocco
  • Moldova
  • Mongolia
  • Montenegro
  • Russian Federation
  • Romania
  • San Marino
  • Serbia
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine
  • Uzbekistan
  • Cape Verde
vaccination immunity certificate_hungary
Read alsoHungarian Covid restrictions in detail — Beware of fake immunity certificates

This is how effective the vaccines in Hungary are

A recent Hungarian study shows how effective vaccines are in Hungary. Among the authors of the study presenting the results are Cecília Müller and Miklós Kásler. They published their results in a prestigious international journal called Clinical Microbiology and Infection.

Recent Study on vaccine efficacy

The study calculated with 3.7 million vaccinated people. Each of these individuals received a second vaccination. The effectiveness is shown by the fact that the infections and number of deaths registered among those vaccinated were compared with data of the unvaccinated control group, writes 24.hu. The obtained results were treated with statistical methods. Researchers also considered gender, age, and date of vaccination.

Among those completely vaccinated, protection against the infection is 68.7 to 88.7 per cent, depending on the vaccine.

Vaccine protection against mortality ranges from 87.5 to 97.5 per cent. Among 16 and 44-year-olds, the latter is 100 per cent. So, no one has died in this age group among those who have received both vaccines. The study period always begins 7 days after the second vaccination.

Comparison between vaccines

The research looked at how effective the different types of vaccines are for specific age groups. Overall, Sinopharm has the lowest efficacy. It protects against the infection in only 43.1 per cent among those over the age of 85.

Data collection for the study ended on June 10th.

This is important because the latest outbreak of the epidemic is no longer included in the study. It is also important to note that the effectiveness of vaccines decreases significantly after half a year, writes telex.hu.

Tamás Ferenci, a biostatistician at the University of Óbuda, also gave his opinion on the results of the study. Ferenci emphasised that the study is not about the current performance of the vaccines. “We need one thing. We need to know the results earlier, especially in an epidemic like this where a week matters. But it is very simple: we have the data, and we have the analysis program required for preparing a study like the one presenting the current results,” said Ferenci.

KSH: deaths outstrip births in October

cemetery, all saints' day
The rate of natural decline in the population decreased by 34 percent in October, with the number of births increasing by 3.1 percent and deaths decreasing by 10 percent compared with the previous year, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Thursday.
 
In October, 8,289 children were born, 248 more than in the same month in the previous year, while 11,252 people died, 1,252 fewer than during the same month in 2020.

In the Jan-Oct period, there were 77,687 births, down 21 from the same period a year earlier.
 
The number of deaths was 122,622, up 14 percent from the same period in 2020.
 
The rise in deaths and the drop in the birth rate means that the rate of natural population decline was up by 52 percent compared with the same period last year, KSH said.
 
The number of marriages fell, with 5,293 couples tying the knot, 19 percent less than during the same period in 2020, it said.
Hungary coronavirus
Read also The number of infected reached a new record in Hungary!

Coronavirus raging in Hungary – latest data

Coronavirus in Hungary
Altogether 185 patients died of a Covid-related illness during the past 24 hours, while 12,165 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Thursday.
 
So far 6,072,192 people have received a first jab, while 5,816,050 have been fully vaccinated. Fully 2,153,117 Hungarians have received a booster jab.
 
The number of active infections stands at 165,862, while hospitals are treating 6,858 Covid-19 patients,
 
680 of whom need respiratory assistance.
 
Since the first outbreak, 1,057,017 infections have been registered, while the number of fatalities has risen to 33,704. Fully 857,451 people have made a recovery.
 
There are 64,002 people in official quarantine, while the number of tests taken stands at 8,249,524.
Viktor-Orban
Read alsoBreaking – government to extend the state of emergency in Hungary!

Hundreds of Jordanian students to come to Hungary!

Graduation University Higher Education
Hungary supports Jordan in preserving its stabilising role in the Middle East with the aim of preventing the region from becoming a source of new migration waves, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Amman after talks with Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi on Wednesday.
 
Discussions concerning important international challenges took a back seat during the Covid pandemic, presenting Europe with serious security threats, Szijjártó told a joint press conference after the talks. Middle Eastern security and migration are key issues affecting central Europe’s security, he added.

Jordan, one of Hungary’s most important allies in the region, is receiving support to help migrants locally, before they can be “used as political weapons thrust onto Europe”, Szijjártó said. Within the framework of a NATO project,
 
Hungary has delivered 10 ventilators to Jordan, while as part of a Polish-Hungarian aid scheme, Hungary is providing medical equipment worth 200 million forints (EUR 540,000) to a hospital which is treating Syrian refugees among others, Szijjártó said.
 
Hungary, he added, is also providing 700 million forints of support to Jordanian Christian communities as a contribution to their operational costs as well as to provide aid to refugees.

The ministers also signed an agreement on
 
offering 400 scholarships to Jordanian students planning to study in Hungary.
 
This year, the Hungarian Armed forces have trained 53 Jordanian officers in how to protect against explosives, and programme will continue in 2022, Szijjártó said.
 
 
Meanwhile, the Hungarian Eximbank has opened a 100 million dollar credit line for Hungarian-Jordanian business cooperation, he said. The support scheme “is yet more proof that it’s best to provide help locally rather than importing problems to Europe,” Szijjártó said.
 
Safadi thanked Hungary for its support. Jordan would continue to do “everything in its power” to provide for refugees arriving in the country, he said, adding that the international community should “shoulder more responsibility in the issue”. Jordan has always been “an oasis of coexistence”, where no one is discriminated against based on their religion or ethnicity, Safadi said.
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Hungary has enough vaccine, says minister

vaccination campaign hungary

Hungary has a sufficient amount of coronavirus vaccines, Gergely Gulyás, the prime minister’s chief of staff, told parliament’s justice affairs committee on Tuesday.

In his yearly briefing to the committee, the minister said that a total 10 million vaccine doses were available, adding that the government was working to increase the number of people inoculated with a booster jab to 4-5 million. “Even if everybody asked for Pfizer as the third jab, we’d have enough to go round,” he added.

The minister said

the range of services restricted to holders of vaccination certificates would be defined depending how the Covid situation panned out.

Meanwhile, Gulyás said that the pandemic was putting a great strain on public administration. In the spring, staff had to coordinate administration of 200,000 jabs on certain days, while they also had to manage over 200,000 job protection subsidy applications and 22,000 applications for research and development aid, he said.

Answering a question concerning whether vaccinations would be mandatory, Gulyás noted that

Austria had been the only EU country so far to do so, adding that the Hungarian government has introduced compulsory vaccination in public administration.

On another subject, Gulyás said that central subsidies for civil groups had increased from an annual 3.4 billion forints (EUR 9.3m) to 10 billion forints between 2012 and 2021, while financing for religious organisations had tripled since 2010. Ethnic Hungarian communities now receive about ten times as much assistance, while the Hungary Helps programme has launched 170 projects in 50 counties to help some half a million people stay in their homeland, he said.

Answering a question concerning the upcoming general election, Gulyás said

the government was not planning to change the electoral laws.

Concerning a proposal under which winning candidates on the opposition’s list would have to form a joint parliamentary group, Gulyás said that the current rules were correct and he was unaware of any plans to change them.

Regarding public transport, Gulyás said the government was “seeking an opportunity” to transfer public transport subsidies owed to the city of Budapest, but city leaders “won’t agree”. The funds are there, he said, but were being held up by disputes concerning the financing of local train sections within the city’s boundaries. “The city seems to be seeking dispute rather than agreement,” he added.

Gulyás confirmed the government treated Budapest as “the nation’s capital” and was supporting its development accordingly, especially given “the biggest railway development programme of the past 100 years” in the greater Budapest area totalling 1,000 billion forints.

Meanwhile, Gulyás said

that regional government offices would benefit from an extra 16 billion forints next year to cover a pay hike of 10 percent.

Gulyás said the past 10 years had been the Hungarian economy’s “most successful decade”, with local governments benefitting mostly thanks to road and public facility upgrades. He highlighted the Hungarian Village development programme, which, he said, had helped reverse negative demographic trends in 1,000 small villages.

coronavirus vaccine injection
Read alsoThird and fourth jabs to come? – This is what Hungarian virologists think

Third and fourth jabs to come? – This is what Hungarian virologists think

coronavirus vaccine injection

It seems more and more likely that a third and even a fourth jab will be necessary to preserve immunity against the coronavirus due to the concerning epidemic situation in Hungary and all across Europe. Hereby, we reveal what experts think about a possible third or a fourth jab. In addition, we can also learn about a Hungarian company that introduced a bonus system to increase vaccination among workers.

Another wave of coronavirus is raging across Europe. Unfortunately, Hungary is not an exception either where the number of daily infections and deaths caused by SARS-CoV-2 is continuously increasing.

According to the chief infectious disease specialist of the South Pest Central Hospital, János Szlávik, we cannot expect the epidemic situation to improve in the next two weeks. The expert has revealed that their intensive care unit is full, and 80-90% of the coronavirus patients treated there are unvaccinated. As the Hungarian news portal hvg.hu reports, this is one of the reasons why the virologist highlights the importance of vaccination. In addition, after receiving the first two jabs, one’s immunity might decrease by the passage of time.

Therefore, the central hospital tries to encourage people to take the third dose of the vaccine as well.

According to the expert, the necessity of a fourth jab may be discussed soon as it is possible that the population will have to vaccinate itself at certain intervals. This would enable the immune system to get refreshed every 4-6 months as well as it would provide protection against newer variants.

The virologist is not in favor of making vaccination compulsory. Szlávik believes that mandatory vaccinations should be introduced against diseases that can be completely eradicated such as smallpox. However, the coronavirus is an ongoing, changing disease that would be difficult to fight with mandatory vaccinations.

This is underpinned by a virologist from the University of Pécs. According to Ferenc Jakab, “the virus is certain to stay with us and the pathogen will be incorporated into the palette of upper respiratory infections.” The expert suggests that people check their antibody levels after the third jab. He also highlights that contrary to popular belief, excess level of antibodies does not exist. In addition, the lack of antibodies is not an issue either as the immune system defends itself on multiple fronts. Even if our antibody levels are low, the cellular immune response may work well against the virus.

The infectious disease specialist has pointed out that after six months, the effectiveness of vaccinations is reduced by 40%.

This also means that if the first jab was received more than half a year ago, the body’s susceptibility to coronavirus is almost equal to that of those who have not been vaccinated. Therefore, the third jab is also important because it can stimulate the immune system even after half a year. The expert has also pointed out that 85-89% of patients in need of hospital care are unvaccinated – reported the Hungarian news portal Világgazdaság. It is important to highlight that inoculated people can also get the infection; however, they can get through the disease with less serious symptoms and health consequences. On the other hand, unvaccinated people are more likely to face severe symptoms if they get infected.

As we previously reported, some Hungarian employers made vaccination against COVID-19 mandatory for their workers. While several companies are still negotiating on the issue, the Hungarian Pannonia Bio company has come up with an incentive program to increase vaccination among workers. Accordingly,

the company has introduced a bonus scheme for vaccinated employees from 15th November and also makes inoculation mandatory for all workers (except employees with medical exemption).

As the Hungarian news portal Portfolio reports, the company pays a net bonus of EUR 473 (~HUF 175,000) after the first jab. A net bonus of EUR 473 (~HUF 175,000) will be paid for the second dose which will be given within the recommended time after the first dose.

Workers who have previously taken the two vaccinations can receive a net bonus of EUR 972 (~HUF 360,000) for taking the third jab. This also applies to those individuals who have already received the jab or plan to take the third dose by 1st January as well as to those who will take it as soon as possible after the recommended time. The maximum amount of the bonus available is EUR 972 (~HUF 360,000) net. The received jabs must be proved by vaccination certificate. Workers who do not take the vaccine by 1st January will be sent on unpaid leave. The company pointed out that its aim is to make the workplace as safe as possible.

National vaccination campaign gets under way
Read alsoNational vaccination campaign gets under way

More soldiers assigned to help vaccination, 171 Covid-19 deaths in Hungary – latest numbers

Vaccination campaign in Hungary.

Altogether 171 patients died of a Covid-related illness during the past 24 hours, while 6,518 new coronavirus infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Tuesday.

So far 6,043,116 people have received a first jab, while 5,801,593 have been fully vaccinated. Fully 1,939,582 Hungarians have received a booster jab.

The number of active infections stands at 147,558, while

hospitals are treating 6,830 Covid-19 patients, 663 of whom need respiratory assistance.

Since the first outbreak, 1,032,215 infections have been registered, while

the number of fatalities has risen to 33,343.

Fully 851,314 people have made a recovery.

There are 49,737 people in official quarantine, while the number of tests taken stands at 8,157,875.

More soldiers assigned to help out staff at vaccination points

The Hungarian Armed Forces has assigned more soldiers to help out staff at Hungary’s designated coronavirus vaccination points during this week’s national vaccination campaign, the defence ministry said on Monday.

Another 480 soldiers have been assigned to hospitals and health-care institutions in addition to the 300 who have been assisting the Covid response efforts,

the ministry said in a statement.

This means there are now some 800 soldiers supporting the health-care system at 79 locations, it said.

The soldiers assigned to the hospitals help out with logistical tasks, temperature screenings, directing patients to the right place as well as with administrative and transportation tasks.

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