The number of people vaccinated here will reach five and a half million today, the Prime Minister highlighted on Kossuth Radio this morning.

All restrictions on shops will be lifted, and masks will not be obligatory indoors or outdoors, with mandatory mask-wearing abolished everywhere except in hospitals and social institutions, he explained.

So for example it will not be a requirement to wear masks in shops or on public transport the day after the 5.5 million mark is officially reached.

In addition, access to the inside of catering venues, accommodation and leisure facilities is no longer tied to an immunity certificate after today.

One hundred people will be allowed to attend private events, up from 50, and the limit for weddings will go up from 200 to 400 people, he said. Restrictions will still apply in the case of sporting, music and dance events, as well as concerts held indoors.

The current regulations remain for sports, music and dance events - and those held in closed spaces or in the open air when more than 500 people participate.

Those under 18 years old can only participate in these events with immunity cards, or under the supervision of vaccinated people.

Universities and also colleges can plan to resume classes with students attending them.

According to the latest reports, there have been no Covid related fatalities in the last 24 hours, 76 people are being cared for in a hospital without a ventilator, and 22 are on a ventilator, PM Viktor Orbán noted.

This is a huge accomplishment, he said, thanking healthcare staff for their work on the vaccination campaign.

The PM stressed the importance that, “Politicians should not retrain themselves as epidemiologists because they can do great harm. I consult, listen, and then speak,” he said.

Fourth wave?

According to PM Orbán, in most parts of the world a fourth wave is taken as a near certainty for around this September - October. But there seems to be a consensus that anyone who is vaccinated has a good chance of missing out on that, he said.

Ten out of a hundred people can be re-infected, but the possibility of re-infection - the excruciatingly depressing possibility - depends largely on whether a person has been vaccinated, he added.

He also indicated that the government had addressed that issue at a meeting yesterday and noted that Hungary was fully prepared for a possible fourth wave.

He underlined that whoever vaccinated themselves have a good chance of not getting sick. And whoever doesn't will find out if he or she can hide from the virus.

PM Orbán added that there will be no third vaccinations yet, as the effects of a third vaccine are not known at the moment. In the meantime, we need to be careful as the situation is so uncertain, he said.

He also emphasized that opening up helps economic growth, but that the gears of industry are still creaking.

Sixteen months is a long time, and we don’t know yet what’s coming next, so we still may need to make unexpected economic decisions, he said.


Source: MTI / Origo.hu / Koronavirus.gov.hu

MTI Photo - PM's Press Office Zoltán Fischer