Hungary plans COVID shots for more than 40% of population by end of April

BUDAPEST: Hungary expects to have more than 4 million of its 10 million people vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of April and to further ease lockdown measures in five or six days, when it has inoculated 3 million people, a senior official said on Thursday.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said that 2.6 million people had already received at least one dose as of Thursday. Hungary began a gradual reopening of shops and services on Wednesday after it inoculated 25% of its population, even as the Hungarian Medical Chamber said the reopening was premature as the third wave of the pandemic was far from over.