BUDAPEST, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian government is considering introducing easing measures to cautiously reopen the country's economy in two steps, Gergely Gulyas, head of the Prime Minister's Office, said here on Friday.
"The second wave of the epidemic in Hungary is currently in a phase of stagnation, so a cautious and gradual opening is reasonable," Gulyas said at a press conference. "If the current trends continue, the restrictions may be eased in two steps, on March 1 and then a month later," he said.
Concerning vaccinations, Gulyas noted that Hungary had effective agreements with Russia and China, giving the country a good chance of inoculating "significantly more" people in February and March than other European Union (EU) countries.
Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that by March 15, all Hungarian citizens older than 60 would be vaccinated.
"We have arrived at a turning point: in the past, the virus was on the offensive and we were on the defensive -- now it will be the other way round," Orban said on public radio channel MR1, referring to the increasing number of vaccines administered in the country.
Hungary has approved the use of Russia's Sputnik V, Britain's AstraZeneca and China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines, in addition to the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines acquired through the EU. Enditem
