János Szlávik, a senior infectologist of the South Pest Central Hospital, said that if vaccinations against Covid-19 continue at the rate that is required in Hungary and if enough people register for the jab, the country could achieve herd immunity by the summer.
Szlávik said this would require 60-80 percent of the population to be vaccinated. Having more than 2.5 million people who have received their first shot “already has an impact on the epidemic," he said. But he added that this did not mean that there would be a significant decline in daily case numbers, though they would likely go down somewhat. Hungary, he said, should strive to vaccinate as many people as possible so that the public could see that vaccines are effective. Until a majority of the population is vaccinated, Covid-19 guidelines will have to be followed and “people cannot feel that they are free," Szlávik said.
The infectologist said Hungary will next week receive its first shipment of Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose Janssen jab, making it the sixth vaccine that will be in use in the country. Concerning AstraZeneca’s vaccine, Szlávik said he still recommended the jab to anyone, arguing that its benefits greatly outweighed the risks that have been reported about it.
Photo credit: koronavirus.gov.hu