Many doubted Prime Minister Orbán when he said in a radio interview on March 26 that Hungary will likely become the first country in Europe to enjoy a more or less restriction-free summer. While we were already outperforming other EU member states in terms of the pace of vaccinations (the number of Hungarians that had received at least one dose of the vaccine was then around 1.7 million), we had not yet reached the required level for the gradual reopening.
Today, however, we can say that in 4 weeks, we have effectively doubled the number of Hungarians that had been vaccinated at the end of March, and yesterday we crossed the 3.5 million threshold. That’s more than 35 percent of the country’s population and nearly double the EU average. The World Health Organization’s Regional Director Hans Kluge even called our performance “exemplary.” This, of course, has been made possible through the tireless efforts of Hungary’s healthcare workers and those involved in the defense against the coronavirus.
As Prime Minister Orbán announced a couple of weeks ago, Hungary is following a policy of gradual reopening; thus, shops could re-open and the nighttime curfew was pushed back only after we got past 2.5 million shots. Continuing on in this spirit, nursery schools and primary schools opened only last Monday, once the vaccination of teachers and school staff reached a sufficient level.
In his regular radio interview yesterday morning, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán underlined that now that Hungary has reached the milestone of 3.5 million vaccinated, the terraces of bars and restaurants may reopen today and the curfew will now start later, at 11 p.m. Hungarians therefore regain at least a small part of their normal life, a little semblance of what it was before the pandemic.
The prime minister’s announcement, however, shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the government made it clear last week that once Hungary surpassed 3.5 million vaccinations, the gradual reopening would continue.
Expert estimations suggest that we have a good chance of reaching 4-4.5 million vaccinated people next week, at which point, we can expect further steps to re-open, including the opening of cultural and sports facilities for those holding immunity passes.
The forecast calls for some sunshine today, but even if a few raindrops fall, I don’t think it will dampen our spirits.
Photo credit: Horizon Images