Hungary increases Pfizer purchases to over 10 million

Cecilia Muller also told a regular online press conference that a large shipment of Russia’s Sputnik V containing 100,000 doses of the vaccine’s first component and 180,000 doses of the second one is on its way to Budapest.

She said 685,247 people have been vaccinated so far, with 251,691 having received a second shot.

“These data show that Hungary comes third in Europe in terms of the inoculation rate after Malta and Denmark,” she said.

Muller warned, however, that Hungary is experiencing a steep rise in cases. “We have difficult weeks ahead,” Muller said. “The situation is serious and we must devote all of our efforts to bringing this epidemic under control.”

Meanwhile, Muller noted that under a revised national vaccination protocol taking effect today, the phasing of the administering of the Pfizer and the AstraZeneca vaccines has been modified to ensure that as many people as possible get a first jab.

Under the revised protocol, those who have been called to take up their first Pfizer jab are slated to receive their second shot not 21 but 35 days later. Recipients of AstraZeneca will be called back for their second jab on the 12th consecutive week, the maximum timeframe period allowed under the manufacturer’s protocol.

Those who have already received their first jab are required to return for their second shot on the day indicated on their vaccination card, Muller said.

Citing worsening transmission statistics, Muller advised Hungarians to observe epidemic rules and accept whichever jab is offered to them. “Those who cherry-pick according to their personal preference may lose weeks in getting protected against the virus, they should in the current epidemic situation think twice about whether or not to wait that long,” she said.

Muller said traces of the virus are on the rise in the waste water of cities, including in Budapest, Bekescsaba, Pecs, Kecskemet and Szekszard, indicating that a further deterioration can be expected in the epidemic situation.

Addressing the same press conference, a deputy leader of Hungary’s operative board responsible for handling the coronavirus epidemic noted the government decision under which coronavirus-related border control and protection measures have been extended until midnight on March at Hungary’s EU Schengen borders.

The measure serves to protect the life and health of Hungarian citizens in light of the third wave of the coronavirus in the country, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Kiss said.

Szijjarto: Hungarian experts have sole right to decide on jabs

Hungary’s government will not let either Brussels or the Hungarian left wing contest the ability and right of Hungarian experts to decide what vaccines could be used in the country in the case of an emergency, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday.

As vaccines offer the only solution to the coronavirus epidemic, there is a pressing need to obtain the highest quantity of vaccines possible, Szijjarto told a press conference after meeting his Austria, Czech, Slovak and Slovenian counterparts in Brdo pri Kranju, in Slovenia.

There are clear European rules in place concerning who is authorised to decide whether a vaccine is safe or not. The European Medicines Agency — or, in the case of an emergency, the national authorities — may make such decisions. Challenging the right of the latter to decide is a non-European approach that runs counter to the European rules, Szijjarto said.