Hungary will shortly begin building its own vaccine plant in the eastern Hungarian town of Debrecen, State Secretary for Economic Strategy and Regulation László György said on Monday.
“The countdown has started: the foundation stone of the national vaccine factory will be laid in Debrecen in a hundred days,” László said at the daily press briefing of the coronavirus operation group.
He emphasized that pharmaceutical production is one of the most profitable industries in the world, so the Hungarian vaccine factory — in addition to serving the health interests of the people living here — can also offer an economic benefit to the county, create high added value and thus high wages, while also creating additional jobs. The state secretary also confirmed that the University of Debrecen has the necessary knowledge to ensure the self-sufficiency of the vaccine factory from the end of 2022 for vaccines against epidemics and infectious diseases for Hungarians and the Carpathian Basin.
“If everything goes according to plan, the Hungarian coronavirus vaccine will be available by the end of next year,” László said.
Hungary’s chief medical officer, Cecília Müller, said they wanted to develop a domestic vaccine using the strains — including the British mutation — that are currently common among the population.
“The vaccine will be similar to the vaccine against the flu virus and the encephalitis,” he said.
The chief medical officer said in connection with the epidemiological data that the third wave of the epidemic had been broken thanks to vaccinations. According to her information, so far more than 47 percent of the Hungarian population has been vaccinated, which is significantly more than the EU average. She said that there are currently plenty of vaccines in Hungary, and shipments of vaccines continue to arrive: 34,800 doses of J&J vaccine and further Pfizer shipments arrived on Monday, which is why Hungary has extended vaccination registration for another day until Wednesday.
Registration in Hungary is currently open when there are sufficient vaccines to satisfy demand.
Title image: MTI/Attlia Balázs
