Hungary’s leftist parties “keep issuing anti-vaccination statements”, and try to “convince others not to get the jab while they get inoculated themselves”, the human resources minister told daily Magyar Nemzet.
“As a doctor, I am shocked that they would go as far as risking other people’s lives to prolong the epidemic and obtain power,” Miklós Kásler said. The leftist parties’ propaganda is “aimed at creating uncertainty”, the minister insisted, stressing that “any vaccine is better than getting infected”.
Kásler warned that the epidemic was not over and advocated care. “Everybody must get inoculated as soon as possible because that provides the greatest chances to rein in the epidemic,” he said.
Hungarian Opinions on Vaccination and Handling of Pandemic Influenced by Politics
Recent surveys confirm a correlation between the political views of Hungarians and their opinions on pandemic operations and vaccination. What is also interesting is the way in which different research institutes measure and present their findings, possibly in order to prove certain political statements.
Leftist daily Népszava stated based on a survey by the left-leaning Publicus Institute that opposition supporters are more in favor of vaccination than supporters of Fidesz, while pro-government Mandiner, based on the survey of the pro-Fidesz Nézőpont Institute, said the same for Fidesz supporters. Although the two news outlets make completely conflicting statements up front, their findings say a lot about opinions among Hungary’s population.
PM Orbán: 4 Million Shots by Early May
The number of Hungarians who have received their first vaccine shot will have reached 4 million by early May, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview on Friday. The government still insists that restrictions can only slow down the spread of the virus, and only mass vaccination can help overcome the epidemic.
“We have been living under warlike conditions” for a year, under conditions that people knew only from their grandparents’ stories and films, Orbán told public broadcaster Kossuth Radio.
Orbán noted that the British coronavirus variant was more aggressive and destructive than the variant that had spread during the first wave of the pandemic. During the first wave, lockdowns and isolation were enough to rid the country of the epidemic for two to three months, he said. But the British variant was different, he added, and lockdowns could only slow down its transmission, while only vaccines could get rid of it.