Hungary to end mass Covid vax campaign: PM

Budapest, June 5 Hungary will end its mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign as it switches to "standby" inoculation, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said here.

"Hungary will switch from mass vaccination to a slower, individual program: some vaccination sites will be maintained, and those who want vaccination will receive it there," he said a radio interview on Friday.

"It is not reasonable to maintain the current vaccination system, which is extremely burdensome for doctors and hospitals alike," he said.

The Prime Minister called the public to take the jab in the next few days if they did not want to take part in the next, much slower vaccination program, reports Xinhua news agency.

"So far it has been the responsibility of the state to make the vaccination program work well, but from now on it is an individual responsibility," Orban warned.

Hungary is the only country in the European Union where there is not a shortage of vaccines.

In fact, it has more jabs available than people registering to get inoculated, he said.

Orban said that 54 per cent of the Hungarian population had already received the first vaccine dose and 38 per cent both doses, adding that the country would be able to revaccinate its population in the event of a potential next wave of the pandemic.

The government has no immediate plan regarding the vaccination of children, he said.

Currently, teenagers aged 16 and above can get inoculated in Hungary.

Since the onset of the pandemic last year, Hungary has registered a total of 805,571 coronavirus cases and 29,818 deaths.

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