Hungary will scrap most of the remaining corona measures. That will happen as soon as the number of vaccinated people reaches 5 million this weekend, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced on the radio.
“That means we have defeated the third wave of the pandemic,” said Orbán, adding that it is time to “say goodbye to face masks.”
In Hungary, which has approximately 10 million inhabitants, almost half of the population has now received at least one dose of a corona vaccine. Unlike other EU member states, the country uses drugs from China and Russia that have yet to be approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). This made it possible to vaccinate quickly.
A top Hungarian official said this week that his country does not need new vaccines from Pfizer / BioNTech. Hungary is said to have purchased sufficient vaccines and is the only member state not participating in a new contract between the EU and those Western companies. “If we have to vaccinate the population again in the fall, we will be ready,” said Minister Gergely Gulyás.
Hungary had already withdrawn many corona measures when the vaccination campaign progressed. Hotels, restaurants, cinemas and other businesses were allowed to reopen their doors. In the next relaxation phase, the curfew will also be cancelled, according to Orbán.
The Hungarian economy has been hit hard by the corona crisis and shrank by 5 percent last year. Orbán, who must be re-elected in 2022, is counting on economic growth again this year. According to him, this could even be higher than the 4.3 percent predicted by his government.