He said schools were disinfected during the holidays, and 209 teachers were diagnosed with the coronavirus infection at the start of the year.

Interest among teachers in having themselves tested for the Covid-19 virus has dropped, as only 20,000 had themselves tested.

The cabinet will decide on Friday whether to reopen high schools, closed since November 11, and details will be made public on Friday, but schools should prepare to maintain the present system, Maruzsa said.

Teachers over 60 years of age will be inoculated, followed by those vulnerable to the virus, but the state secretary asked those employed in education to register on the website vakcinainfo.gov.hu.

In effect, Maruzsa was saying that teachers will not be treated any differently than the general public in the government’s vaccination program.

Teachers have asked to be given priority, arguing that the nature of their work exposes them to greater risk of infection.

National chief medical officer Cecília Müller said the inoculation of healthcare workers is proceeding in order, as those working in intensive and emergency wards have received the vaccine and the inoculation of those working in other wards is under way.

As many as 31,500 health care workers had been inoculated by midnight Wednesday, Müller said.

Following the European Medicines Agency’s approval of the Moderna vaccine, Hungary could receive 1,744,000 doses of the vaccine next week, she said.

MTI Photo: Zoltán Máthé