Coronavirus – Vaccine to be voluntary, free of charge in Hungary

The Hungarian government is committed to providing voluntary and free vaccination against the coronavirus, swiftly and in an organised fashion, the Head of the Prime Minister’s Office told a regular press briefing on Thursday.

Gergely Gulyás called on all wishing to avail themselves of the vaccine to register at vakcinainfo.gov.hu. Registration forms will also be delivered by post from Friday, he said.

Gulyás said it was too early to tell whether the epidemic had peaked in Hungary. The government hopes, however, that it has at least “plateaued”, and case and fatality numbers will start to fall soon, Gulyás said.

Adhering to epidemic-related regulations is instrumental for that to happen, he warned.

‘Victory’ at EU summit possible

The government has chances to prevail at the European Union summit starting on Thursday, where the heads of state and government could unanimously approve a document with conditions set out by Poland and Hungary, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office also said.

Gergely Gulyás told that talks between the German chancellor and the Polish and Hungarian prime ministers had been successful, resulting in an agreement that was acceptable to Germany and at the same time fulfilled all Hungarian and Polish demands.

The government’s aim remained clear throughout the talks: EU support must not be made conditional on rule of law criteria, he said.

This is not the time to resolve ongoing debates about migration and they must not be linked to the budget, he added.

Hungary has made it clear that it cannot be blackmailed in these issues and demanded political and legal guarantees to ensure that Hungarian voters’ decisions should not be disregarded, he said.

In reference to the EU’s migration action plan, Gulyás said Hungary will refuse to host 34 million migrants at any cost.

Source: MTI