“Yesterday, we administered 25,000 first doses and 117,000 second doses,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said, kicking off his regular Friday morning interview on Kossuth Rádió. He added that the number of active infections is now finally under 100,000, and there are less than 1,000 Hungarians hospitalized with COVID-19 who are not on ventilators.
Even though “we have an advantage over Western Europe,” the PM said, some Hungarians seem to be a bit confused when it comes to the concept of herd immunity, making them believe that they could somehow be protected from the virus without getting the vaccine. The truth is, according to PM Orbán, “the only way people can protect their health and the health of those around them is by getting vaccinated,” as “this virus will not go away; it’s here to stay.”
Comparing Hungary’s vaccination figures to other global leaders, PM Orbán said that Hungary has reached a point in its vaccination campaign where we are now ahead of the USA in terms of administering the first dose of the COVID shot and have even caught up to the UK for second-dose vaccinations.
“While the numbers are looking good, there are human lives at stake, so numbers are now less important,” Prime Minister Orbán said, adding that all six types of vaccines available in Hungary are capable of defeating the different virus mutations, including the dreaded Indian variant.
Speaking about the two-day EU summit held earlier this week, Prime Minister Orbán said that “climate policy is very expensive,” and Hungarians cannot bear as much of the financial burden that comes with it as the Dutch or the Germans, who are “multiple times richer than us.” According to the prime minister, while the idea of “making people pay the price of climate change” is “natural” in Western Europe, Hungary cannot and will not impose extra taxes on everyday citizens.
“Climate destruction is carried out mainly by big companies, so why should people foot the bill? Instead, let’s make climate destructors pay the price,” PM Orbán said.
Ahead of his bilateral meeting with British PM Boris Johnson in London, scheduled for later today, Prime Minister Orbán said that since the United Kingdom left the European Union, “Hungary has been suffering.” He added that Central European countries could take a joint stand with the UK on many policy areas; with the UK’s departure “we have been weakened.”
“We will seek special areas where we could build up a close Hungarian-British trade and economic cooperation,” PM Orbán said in closing.