BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) – Hungary has emerged as the European Union leader in COVID-19 vaccinations thanks to a strategy that sought vaccines from Russia and China, as well as from within the bloc, generating growing confidence in vaccines from eastern countries.
But this strategy goes against a dizzying increase in new cases of COVID-19 and deaths attributed to a more infectious virus variant found for the first time in Britain that is putting unprecedented pressure on Hungary’s healthcare system. A new round of blocking measures went into effect on Monday to stem the increase, which saw deaths averaging around 150 a day and hospitalizations and new cases breaking records recorded during the previous peak in December.
As of Friday, 11.9% of Hungary’s adult population had received at least one dose of the vaccine. This is the second highest vaccination rate in the EU’s 27 members, after the small island nation of Malta and substantially above the EU average of 7%. With five vaccines approved for use in Hungary, more than in any other EU country, more than 1.2 million Hungarians have received a vaccine of less than 10 million in the country, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The vaccination campaign is only growing in importance, as Hungary has the 7th worst mortality rate per 1 million inhabitants in the world, with 16,627 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Karoly Dery, a general practitioner in Hatvan, a city 35 miles east of Budapest, said that the rapid spread of the virus has led to greater acceptance of all vaccines.
“I always tell anti-vaccination people that any vaccine is better than a month on a ventilator and a possible death,” said Dr. Dery to the Associated Press. “There is nothing more ugly or terrible than death by asphyxiation.”
Right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban broke with the EU’s joint procurement program to buy millions of doses from Russia and China that have not been approved by the EU drug regulator. He has sharply criticized the speed with which the vaccine was launched in the EU.
In February, the country became the first in the EU to start using Sinopharm vaccines from China and Sputnik V from Russia, although surveys showed that public confidence in vaccines not approved by the EU was low. A January survey of 1,000 people in the capital Budapest, conducted by researcher Median and the 21 Research Center, showed that among those who wish to be vaccinated, only 27% would get a Chinese vaccine and 43% a Russian vaccine, compared with 84 % who would take a jab developed in western countries.
Dr. Bela Merkely, dean of Semmelweis Medical University in Budapest, told the AP that Hungary’s exceptional vaccine performance can be attributed to the purchase of Russian and Chinese vaccines. He said the initial public distrust is being overcome by a sense of urgency to control a devastating third wave of the pandemic.
“Hungary has more vaccines because it gave emergency approval for the Sputnik and Sinopharm vaccines,” he said, adding that he had received an injection of Sputnik V. “(When) people ask which is the best, I always say, ‘A the best vaccine is the one in my arm. ‘A vaccine that is in transit or in the refrigerator … cannot protect a single human life. ”
Other EU countries are noticing. Slovakia’s Prime Minister Igor Matovic angered members of his government coalition when he made a secret deal to buy 2 million doses of Sputnik V this month, while the president of the hard-hit Czech Republic wrote to the leaders of Russia and China requesting emergency doses.
Merkely hopes that Hungary’s new blocking restrictions and increased vaccination rate will produce results within three to four weeks and that the latest increase will be under control in mid-May. Still, he says, Hungarians will not be safe until all countries in the world have access to vaccines.
“A global pandemic cannot be controlled locally,” he said. “As long as COVID-19 is still present in the world, even vaccinated countries will not be safe because a mutation can form at any time.”
___
Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak