BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary cannot lift restrictions to stop the spread of the coronation so it can mass inoculate the people, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio on Friday.
Orban said the best way to approve several vaccines was because competition would force manufacturers to accelerate shipments.
“We don’t need to explain, we need vaccines,” Orban said, adding that he hoped that Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who is in Moscow for talks on Friday, could secure a contract to vaccinate Russia’s Sputnik V to buy.
The Hungarian drug regulator has first approved the use of the British AstraZeneca and Russia ‘s Sputnik V vaccines against the crown virus. Hungary was the first member of the European Union to receive a shot of Sputnik V, the EU’s medicines regulator yet without a green light, reaffirming Budapest’s pressure to take coronavirus blocking measures to boost the economy.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has also not approved the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and OxfordUniversity in Britain but a decision is expected on 29 January.
Hungary is also in talks with Sinopharm in China to purchase the coronavirus vaccine.
Orban said it was too early to talk about building restrictions.
Since November 11, all high schools in Hungary have been closed, as have hotels and restaurants except takeaway food, there has been a 1900 GMT curfew, and collections have been prohibited.
He said once health care workers, the elderly, and those working in efforts to protect against the pandemic, then a debate can begin about returning to regularity.
Reciting with Krisztina Than; Edited by Jacqueline Wong and Catherine Evans