Hungarian vaccine plant to be fitted for production of Chinese Sinopharm shots -minister

Hungary plans to produce Chinese Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine as well as a locally developed shot in a planned $193 million vaccine plant, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in China on Monday. Hungary has been the only EU country to inoculate people with China's Sinopharm vaccine, after rolling out Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, although neither shot has been granted approval for emergency use by the bloc.

Hungary plans to produce Chinese Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine as well as a locally developed shot in a planned $193 million vaccine plant, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in China on Monday.

Hungary has been the only EU country to inoculate people with China's Sinopharm vaccine, after rolling out Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, although neither shot has been granted approval for emergency use by the bloc. Szijjarto said after talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, that first, the technology for putting doses into vials could be introduced in a facility currently under construction in the eastern town of Debrecen.

The second step would be to carry out the entire process of production in Hungary, Szijjarto said in a live video broadcast on his Facebook page. "There will be a constant global demand for vaccines, and it will mean a strategic advantage for Hungary to take the role of not only the customer but also the producer," Szijjarto said.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government announced in December that it was planning to build a vaccine factory to help combat the pandemic. Hungary has earmarked 55 billion forints ($193 million) to build the plant that is expected to make Hungary self-sufficient in vaccine production from the end of 2022, state news agency MTI reported.

Hungary, a country of 10 million, has vaccinated 5.1 million people as of Monday, with more than 3.6 million having received two doses, the government said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)