COVID-19 vaccination in Hungary

Last updated

COVID-19 vaccination in Hungary
Date27 December 2020 (2020-12-27) – present
Location Hungary
Cause COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary

COVID-19 vaccination in Hungary is an ongoing immunization campaign against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in response to the ongoing pandemic in the country.

Contents

Vaccination program

Around 20.13% of the Hungarian citizens (based on the 2011 census [1] [2] and the official vaccination statistics) have received, at least, one anti-COVID-19 injection, since 28 March 2021.

Background

Reports in March 2021 stated that Hungary was the first country in the EU to "begin using China's Sinopharm BIBP and Russia's Sputnik V vaccines, even as polling showed that public trust in non-EU approved vaccines was low". [3] The European Commission's Vaccine Passport plan excluded the Sputnik and Sinopharm products because they were not "EU authorized vaccines". One suggestion to resolve that issue was that "Russian and Chinese vaccine producers submit their products to the EMA for testing and authorization". [4] At the end of March 2021, Hungary also granted emergency use licenses to two more vaccines, CanSino (from China) and Covishield (the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India). [5]

Vaccines on order

VaccineApprovalDeployment
Oxford–AstraZeneca Green check.svg YesGreen check.svg Yes
Sinopharm BIBP Green check.svg YesGreen check.svg Yes
Pfizer–BioNTech Green check.svg YesGreen check.svg Yes
Moderna Green check.svg YesGreen check.svg Yes
Janssen Green check.svg YesGreen check.svg Yes
Sputnik V Green check.svg YesGreen check.svg Yes
Convidecia Green check.svg YesDark Red x.svg No
Novavax Green check.svg YesDark Red x.svg No
Sanofi–GSK PendingDark Red x.svg No
CureVac PendingDark Red x.svg No
Valneva PendingDark Red x.svg No

Government response

On 17 March 2020, the Surgeon General announced that the National Safety Laboratory of National Health Security Center had successfully isolated COVID-19 from a Hungarian patient's sample, which it could use for the research and development of a new Hungarian vaccine. [6] [7] A consortium founded by the Department of Immunology at the Faculty of Sciences of Eötvös Loránd University, the Institute of Biology at the Science Faculty of the University of Pécs, Richter Gedeon and ImmunoGenes is involved in international biotechnological developments. [8] [9] Imre Kacskovics, leader of Immunology Department of ELTE, said the product currently in the first phase of development won't be a vaccine, but provide passive immunity. It will not prepare the body to fight against the virus. [10] Some days after the successful isolation, the Bioinformatic Research Team of Szentágothay János Research Center at the University of Pécs and the university's virologists made the genome of the new SARS-CoV-2 human coronavirus available in Hungary. [11] [12]

Related Research Articles

Sinopharm Group Co., Ltd. is a Chinese pharmaceutical company. The parent company of Sinopharm Group was Sinopharm Industrial Investment, a 51–49 joint venture of state-owned enterprise China National Pharmaceutical Group and civilian-run enterprise Fosun Pharmaceutical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinopharm (company)</span> Chinese state-owned enterprise

China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation (CNPGC), commonly referred to as Sinopharm, is a Chinese state-owned enterprise. The corporation was the indirect major shareholder of publicly traded companies Sinopharm Group, China Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai Shyndec Pharmaceutical, and Beijing Tiantan Biological Products.

The COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. On 4 March 2020, the first cases in Hungary were announced. The first coronavirus-related death was announced on 15 March on the government's official website.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 vaccine</span> Vaccine against SARS-CoV-2

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">BioNTech</span> German biotechnology company

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccine diplomacy</span> Use of vaccines as international diplomacy

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinopharm BIBP COVID-19 vaccine</span> Vaccine against COVID-19

The Sinopharm BIBP COVID-19 vaccine, also known as BBIBP-CorV, the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, or BIBP vaccine, is one of two whole inactivated virus COVID-19 vaccines developed by Sinopharm's Beijing Institute of Biological Products. It completed Phase III trials in Argentina, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with over 60,000 participants. BBIBP-CorV shares similar technology with CoronaVac and Covaxin, other inactivated virus vaccines for COVID-19. Its product name is SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine, not to be confused with the similar product name of CoronaVac.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sputnik Light</span> Vaccine against COVID-19

Sputnik Light is a single dose COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. It consists of the first dose of the Sputnik V vaccine, which is based on the Ad26 vector, and it can be stored at a normal refrigerator temperature of 2–8 °C (36–46 °F). The institute says this version would be ideally suited for areas with acute outbreaks, allowing more people to be vaccinated quickly. It will also be used as a third (booster) dose for those who received Sputnik V at least 6 months earlier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 vaccination in Sri Lanka</span> Plan to immunize against COVID-19

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COVID-19 vaccination in Comoros is an ongoing immunisation campaign against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in response to the ongoing pandemic in the country.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 vaccine clinical research</span> Clinical research to establish the characteristics of COVID-19 vaccines

COVID-19 vaccine clinical research uses clinical research to establish the characteristics of COVID-19 vaccines. These characteristics include efficacy, effectiveness, and safety. As of November 2022, 40 vaccines are authorized by at least one national regulatory authority for public use:

References

  1. "Területi adatok (Territorial data) – 2011 Census". Hungarian Central Statistical Office. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  2. "2011 Hungary Census Report" (PDF). ksh.hu. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  3. Spike, Justin (12 March 2020). "Hungary emerges as an EU vaccination star amid surging cases". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  4. Vaski, Tamás (18 March 2021). "EC Vaccine Passport Proposal Excludes Sputnik and Sinopharm". Hungary Today. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  5. "CMO: Hungary's medicines authority grants licences for two more vaccines". About Hungary. 23 March 2021. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  6. "Magyarok izolálták a koronavírust – mit jelent ez?" [Hungarians isolate coronavirus – what happens next?]. 24.hu (in Hungarian). 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  7. "Országos tisztifőorvos: sikeresen izolálták az NNK laborjában a koronavírust" [National Chief Medical Officer: coronavirus successfully isolated in NNK laboratory]. Koronavírus.gov.hu (in Hungarian). 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  8. "Koronavírus – Magyar gyógyszerfejlesztés kezdődik" [Hungarian coronavirus drug development begins] (in Hungarian). Népszava. 14 March 2020. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  9. "Exkluzív részleteket tudtunk meg a koronavírus elleni magyarországi gyógyszer fejlesztéséről" [Exclusive: details of the first Hungarian coronavirus drug]. portfolio.hu (in Hungarian). 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  10. "Magyar gyógyszert fejlesztenek a koronavírus ellen" [Developing the Hungarian coronavirus drug] (in Hungarian). Index.hu. 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  11. "Megvan az első magyar koronavírus genom" [I have the first Hungarian coronavirus genome]. index.hu (in Hungarian). 21 March 2020. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  12. "Virológia Pécs". facebook.com (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.