With a third wave of the pandemic hitting the country, people should make a rational, rather than an emotional decision on getting vaccinated, as it could even cost them their lives, Orbán told public broadcaster Kossuth Rádió. “I ask everyone to register and go and get themselves inoculated and if possible, accept whichever vaccine they are offered,” he said. Orbán also said that some 120,000 people filled out the government’s National Consultation survey on reopening the country on the first day. The responsibility for such decision obviously lies with the government, he said, adding that the best decision would be made if more and more people had their voices heard. “If we can fend off a third wave, we can reopen the country.”
Orbán said Hungary had the biggest stock of effective Covid vaccines out of all EU member states. The prime minister said that by the end of May, Hungary can have 3.5 million more people vaccinated than an EU country of similar size “because we don’t rely solely on the EU’s slow vaccine distribution but also use our own resources to procure more” jabs.