Hungary’s healthcare system is able to meet increased caseloads as there are plenty of unused beds, and every patient in need will get quality care.
Gergely Gulyás, Head of the Prime Minister’s Office, told a government press briefing that current restrictions will remain unchanged until next week. The number of new infections either dropped or hovered between 3,000 and 5,000 every day last week, with the exception of Thursday, when mass testing started in certain sectors. The government will assess the results of the latter next week, and the current measures will be maintained until then, he added.
According to MTI, Gulyás said access to a vaccine against the coronavirus was on the horizon and a vaccine was in its final phase of testing. The government aims to acquire the vaccine from whatever source becomes available, he said. Only those products that are tested, approved and registered by the Hungarian authorities can be used in Hungary, he added. This applies to vaccines from the European Union as well as those developed in the US, Israel, China and Russia, he said.
Vaccination against the coronavirus will be available on a voluntary basis and free of charge, Gulyás said. He confirmed that Hungary’s government has made arrangements to buy more than 12 million doses of coronavirus vaccine developed in the US and Europe and talks are under way with Russian, Israeli and Chinese developers. The licensing procedure is at the most advanced stage in China, while Pfizer has stated that testing was in an advanced stage but supplies will initially go the US rather than Europe, he said. In such cases, half of the advance payment is redeemable, he added.
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