250,000 more doses of Sputnik vaccine arrive

So far Hungary has received 1.1 million Russian and 1.1 million Chinese doses, he said, adding that without these shipments “we would be in big trouble”.

Had the government “listened to Brussels” and had also heeded pressure from the left-wing opposition not to buy Eastern vaccines, a large number of people who are now protected from the virus would not have been vaccinated yet, he added.

The minister said the duty of the government was to protect people’s lives, and vaccination was the only real solution.

Pfizer delivers some 1.5 m doses of vaccines

Pfizer has so far delivered close to 1.5 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine to Hungary in regular weekly shipments, Pfizer Gyogyszerkereskedelmi, its Hungarian subsidiary, said on Tuesday.

“Pfizer has been delivering to Hungary its Comirnaty vaccine developed in partnership with BioNTech according to schedule over the period of more than two months to help the country’s protection efforts,” it told MTI in a statement, noting the shipment of over 690,000 doses in March alone.

Just on Tuesday, the 15th consignment containing 165,000 doses of the vaccine arrived in the country, it said.

Pfizer delivered its first consignment to Hungary on December 26, 2020 and will substantially increase the size of its consignments from the second quarter of the year, the company said.

2 million Hungarians already vaccinated

The number of people vaccinated in Hungary has reached two million, according to a message posted on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Facebook page on Tuesday afternoon. “Two million vaccinated. Another step forward,” a short animated message said.