“Hungary’s vaccination policy has been driven exclusively by health-care considerations; political or economic considerations have not played any role,” he said on Facebook.

The national vaccination programme has allowed a gradual reopening of the country, he said.

Meanwhile, fully 1.2 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine arrived in Hungary from China at dawn on Saturday, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Facebook.

“This is the biggest shipment of vaccines so far,” he said, adding that Hungary has now received 3.3 million doses altogether. Another 1.7 million doses of the Sinopharm jab are under contract to be delivered in the future, too.

Szijjártó said “the next milestone” was the target of five million vaccinated in Hungary, “bringing us closer to a life of normalcy”. “We are in a position to vaccinate anyone who needs it,” the minister said.

Hungary records 91 fatalities,  677 new infections

Fully 91 patients, generally elderly with co-morbidities, died over the past 24 hours, while 667 new infections were registered, koronavirus.gov.hu said on Monday.

So far 4,305,775 people have received a first jab, while 2,503,575 have been fully vaccinated.

The number of active infections has declined to 188,083, while hospitals are treating 3,384 Covid patients, 394 of whom need respiratory assistance.

There are 20,967 people in official quarantine, while 5,538,792 tests have been officially carried out.

Since the first outbreak, 792,386 infections have been registered, while fatalities have risen to 28,693. Fully 575,610 people have made a recovery.

Number of 16-18 year olds registered for vaccination exceeds 84,000

The number of 16-18 year olds who have registered to receive a jab exceeded 84,000 by Friday midnight—more than 40% of the age group—and registrations are still ongoing.

Hungary is among the first European Union countries where the vaccination programme is so advanced that 16-18 year olds are now eligible for inoculation.

​​​​​​​People 16 or above who register after the Friday midnight deadline, however, will have to join a waiting list alongside people aged 18 or above.


MTI Photo: Zoltán Máthé