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Prime Minister Viktor Orban receives the jab for influenza in October. He has yet to be given the vaccine for COVID-19
Hungary tries to speed up vaccinations by turning to China and Russia
Pfizer-BioNTech, which would be enough to provide immunity to every child and adult. The government had ordered a total of 4.4mn doses of the vaccine as part of a joint European Union order.
Hungary received the first delivery
of close to 10,000 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines before Christmas. But as supply problems surfaced in January, Orban asked his foreign minister to speed up talks and to secure further supplies from China and Russia.
Under an agreement reached with Moscow a week ago, Hungary will receive 2mn doses over three months. The Russian Sputnik V had received a preliminary license from Hungarian authorities, while they still await certification from the European Medical Agency (EMA).
Hungary also agreed with China on the shipment of 5mn doses of Sinopharm
a week ago. Deliveries will take place in four phases over four months. In February, March, and April Hungary is slated to receive 500,000 doses per month and 3.5mn in May. Hungary was the first country in the EU to give the green light for the use of Sinopharm’s drug.
The agreement with the Chinese manufacturer came a day after the government issued a decree calling for a green light for any vaccine that had been administered to at least 1mn in at least three other countries. The decree made it possible to circumvent an authorisation from the Hungarian National Institute of Pharmacy and Food and Health (OGYEI), which gave its blessing to the Sinopharm drug days later.
Some Hungarian medical professionals have complained about the lack of transparency of the approval process.
Hungary’s largest opposition party DK said that the government was gambling with the health and lives of Hungarians. It should be up to the European Medicines Agency to decide whether the vaccine was safe and effective, they said. The government in response accused the DK of fearmongering and trying to undermine the vaccination campaign.
bne IntelliNews
Hungary has blamed the European Union for the slow roll-out of its COVID-19 vaccination campaign and has turned to its eastern allies Russia and China for help. Without waiting for approval from the European Medicines Agency or for rigorous tests by its own watchdog, the government has become the first country in the EU to turn to Chinese and Russian manufacturers to speed up its vaccination programme.
Now the government plans to inoculate every Hungarian over the age of 60 by March 15, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state media on February 5.
If it succeeds, the government hopes this will make up for its mistakes last year
in handling the pandemic, while also demonstrating that the country can handle the crisis by itself, the importance of its strong ties with China and Russia, and that it does it not need the help of the EU.
Government officials have accused EU leaders for the slow delivery of vaccines,
while critics accuse the government of trying to divert attention away from the soaring infection rate over the winter and its confused response.
"Everyone was expecting that the vaccination will be launched at a tremendous rate in the EU, which will allow the existing restrictive measures in Europe to be lifted, but the expectation could not be fulfilled by the European Commission," Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in mid-January.
In response, Hungary has turned
to China and Russia to diversify its supplies. "It doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches the mouse", Orban has said numerous times, quoting Chinese communist leader Deng Xiaoping.
Turning to Russia and China
Hungary, which has a population of 9.7 million, has ordered a total of 19.7mn doses from western manufacturers, including AstraZeneca, Moderna and
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