Economy 5 February 2021, 8:49am

Hungary's Orbán reveals new details about re-opening plan

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By early March, Hungary will have one million people who had either been vaccinated against COVID-19 or recovered from the infectino, and all those over 65 years of age that had registered for a shot will be protected by then. This is the worst-case scenario, said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in his regulary weekly interview with public radio MR1 on Friday morning. By the middle of March, those over 60 will also be protected, and by early April there will be two million people in Hungary protected against coronavirus, and it's a start, he added.

Vaccination schedule and re-opening outlook

Hungarian authorities diagnosed 1,576 people with coronavirus infection over the past 24 hours, and 98 people have died of coronavirus-related diseases. There are 3,638 people in hospital with COVID-19 and 302 of them require artificial ventilation, said Orbán.

There was stagnation or a slight deterioration over the past few days, he added.

A total of 264,530 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19, and about 92,000 people have already received their second shot.

There's some uncertainty in the system, and changes will be made in the vaccination campaign as well, depending on how the vaccine shipments arrive.

By early March we'll have one million people in Hungary that had either been vaccinated against COVID-19 or had recovered from the infection, said the PM.

[By then] those over 65 years of age will be vaccinated; they'll be protected to the degree of one jab at least.

By early April, there will be two million people in Hungary how had either been vaccinated or recovered from coronavirus. That's the worst-case scenario. It could only be better and that's a start, said Orbán.

There are three vaccines in the world today: American, Russian and Chinese. They do not say nice things about each other. We don't like that but the battle is ongoing.

"We need to proceed with caution"

Everyone wants to get their life back, the pressure exerted by hoteliers and those in the hospitality industry is understandable.

Even my mother said we should already do something [about this] [...] but the facts of the past few days suggest we should proceed catiously and in a planned manner.

We'll have a national consultation on re-opening between mid-February and early March, he reminded.

Note that this national consultation business is a political tool. If you think about it, no one with a sane mind would trust the general population with decisions like this. Regardless of what the government suggests, Joe Bloggs will never be and very well shouldn't be paid heed to when it comes to literally life or death issues such a pandemic. It can only be hoped that the PM listens to scientists and experts rather than his hairdresser or gardener. Not to mention that the results of these surveys are not public and the questions are rather rhetorical – and often filled with fearmongering and scapegoating, targeting Brussels, George Soros or migrants, for example.

Key decisions ahead in economic protection

Orbán said key decisions regarding higher education and worth about 1.2-2.0 trillion forints will be made in early April. In early July, they will take decisions about the renewal of the entire domestic energy system, circular economy, and the launch of a brand new agricultural and rural development programme.

We are going to make these decisions and these [programmes] are going to be launched in the autumn.

PM reveals size of 2020 recession

Besides addressing the schedule of economic re-opening and a likely robust economic growth, Orbán also noted that according to preliminary data, Hungary's GDP contracted by 5.1-5.2% in 2020. This is better than previously estimated and much better than in various countries in Western Europe.

Will those vaccinated against COVID-19 or who have recovered be exempted?

Asked if these people would be given more rights than those who have not received their jabs or officially recovered from the infection, the PM repolied that it's too early to address this matter.

I'm not taking a stance on these issues just yet. Everything is possible, the [national] consultation will address this too. I don't think it would be the devil's work if we allowed a faster re-opening for those that have been vaccinated, who are protected, who have beaten the infection.

If the other Hungarians do not find this fair, such a measure would rather harm than help the society.

We'll reach a state by mid-March when those over 60 years of age will have received their vaccine, if they had registered.

In view of the general mentality of Hungarians (and some other nations too) towards the world, particularly to other human beings, it is highly unlikely that the majority will 'vote' to give any preferential treatment to those vaccinated against or recovered from coronavirus. Look up the 'joke' with the punchline: 'The neighbour's cow should die too.'

More to follow!