January 29th local time, Hungary’s National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition approved the emergency use authorization of Chinese vaccines, making Hungary the first EU country to approve a Chinese vaccine.
In just 18 days, the Chinese vaccine arrived.
On February 16, the inactivated coronavirus vaccine produced by China National Pharmaceutical Group arrived in Hungary, and Hungary became the first EU country to receive a Chinese vaccine.
On the same day, the news of the arrival of a Chinese vaccine dominated the headlines of major media in Hungary.
A reporter from Hungarian state television said in a live broadcast on the 16th that the batch of vaccines totaled 550,000 doses, which are expected to be available for 275,000 people.
Hungary has never received such a large number of vaccines at the same time since it began to receive vaccines at the end of last year.
Hungarian state television reporter said that Chinese vaccines are easier to preserve, and can be stored for up to two years at temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius. He also found a heartwarming detail that China provided pre-filled syringe packaging for this batch of vaccines, which would be more convenient to use.
The reporter of the main station also greeted the vaccine at the scene. He wrote in his interview notes: “After 9:00 a.m.
February 16, the weather was hazy, but the apron was crowded with people because the cargo plane carrying Chinese vaccines was about to arrive. In the midst of the crowd, the cargo plane landed smoothly, and boxes of vaccines were carefully unloaded by the porter.
This shows that the safety and effectiveness of Chinese vaccines have been more widely recognized, and in the face of a general shortage of vaccines in the world, China, as a country with the ability to develop vaccines, is fulfilling its promise to make vaccines as a global public product. I feel full of pride.
Qi Dayu, Chinese ambassador to Hungary, expressed the hope that after the Chinese vaccine arrives in Hungary, it can help Hungary recover its economy as soon as possible and overcome the epidemic as soon as possible.
Help Hungary get production and life on track as soon as possible.
On the 16th, Menzel, State Secretary of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations, also greeted the Chinese vaccine on the spot. He said: “Today is a very important day for Hungary.
We have cooperated with Chinese enterprises and governments from September to October last year. Hungary was the first country in the EU to receive a national drug vaccine.
We are working hard to save lives, restore the economy, and fight against the epidemic side by side with Chinese friends. I want to emphasize again that today is a very important day for Hungary.
Why is Hungary the first EU country to receive a Chinese vaccine?
On the issue of vaccines, Hungary has taken a pragmatic route.
On 29 January, Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán said that vaccines are not political issues.” I trust Chinese vaccine most.
I would be willing to get a vaccine in China if I could choose.”
On February 15, Orbán said in Parliament that Hungary’s first priority is to purchase as many coronavirus vaccines as possible as possible.
Hungary needs all kinds of vaccines that are effective, safe and millions of people have been vaccinated worldwide.
He also said that buying enough vaccines is a prerequisite for Hungary to “restart”.
Why can’t Hungary wait for an EU vaccine?
Currently, there are four vaccines available in Hungary, namely, Pfizer, Modena, AstraZeneca and Russian “Sputnik V” vaccine.
After being tested and approved by the Hungarian National Public Health Center, the Chinese national drug vaccine will become the fifth coronavirus vaccine in Hungary.
The first three vaccines were licensed by the European Drug Administration, and the last two vaccines were specially approved by Hungary itself.
Why can’t Hungary wait for the unified procurement of vaccines in the EU and increase its independent procurement in China and Russia?
Hungarian human resources minister Gashler said that the “time and quantity” of vaccines obtained through the EU are uncertain.
Starting in January this year, there was a heated wave of EU and British vaccine grabbing because AstraZeneca planned to significantly reduce the supply of vaccines to EU countries.
Recently, Pfizer and AstraZeneca have repeatedly told the European Union that they will significantly reduce vaccine delivery in the first quarter of this year due to production capacity, which has aroused strong dissatisfaction among many EU countries.
On February 16, the European Union announced that the delivery of vaccines supplied to the EU by Modena in February would also be delayed.
According to the EU plan, 70% of the EU population would have been vaccinated by the end of summer 2021.
But at the current rate, it will take more than two years to get all people who are willing to get two doses of vaccine.
A week ago, European Commission President von der Leyen publicly admitted that Europe had been too confident and optimistic about the production of a coronavirus vaccine.
She said that the EU had previously focused on vaccine research and development, ignoring the difficulty of mass production.
The production process of vaccines is so complicated that it is impossible to establish a production base overnight, so the EU is having to set up a “task force” to accelerate vaccine production.
In contrast, Serbia, a non-EU country, is vaccinated and is taking the lead in continental Europe.
In this case, some EU member states can’t wait.
It is very understandable that I want to figure it out for myself, or urge the EU to think about it quickly.
The neighboring country is sour.
In fact, as early as January 29, the Polish media became sour on the day when the Hungarian National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition approved the emergency use authorization for China’s coronavirus vaccine.
On January 29, the Polish portal money.pl published an article entitled “Hungary will buy a Chinese vaccine in its own way in the fight against the epidemic”, reporting that “Hungary has decided to take its destiny in its own hands” and signed a contract with China to buy China’s coronavirus vaccine.
Czech News Network reported on February 15 that if everything is normal, Hungary will be vaccinated against China, which will continue to accelerate Hungary’s vaccination process.
However, according to EU regulations, vaccines approved by individual member states cannot be automatically approved for use in other EU countries.
On the day of the Chinese vaccine arrived in Hungary, the Associated Press quoted Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán in the report: “If we can’t get the vaccine from Brussels, we must get it from other places.
More Hungarian deaths should not be caused by the slow purchase of vaccines.
Saving lives is more important than anything else.
It is hoped that more countries, rich and poor, and even more political, can be vaccinated as soon as possible.
