A government cargo plane carrying 700,000 Sinopharm vaccines landed in Budapest on Friday, marking the fulfilment of China’s contract with Hungary.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the remaining part of the contract was for 500,000 doses but the Chinese defense ministry added 200,000 doses as a donation.
The aircraft made 15 round trips between Budapest and Moscow and Budapest and Beijing in the past three months transporting Eastern vaccines to Hungary, and Hungary has received more vaccines from China and at an earlier date than originally contracted, Minister Szijjártó said in a video posted on Facebook.
The minister said the vaccines ordered from China and Russia have contributed to putting Hungary a month and a half ahead of Europe in terms of the proportion of vaccinated population. “It is that much sooner that we can fully open our economy and give people back a normal life,” he said.