London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Hungary records the deadliest day of the pandemic, despite its leading vaccine rollout

Hungary records the deadliest day of the pandemic, despite its leading vaccine rollout

Hungary has recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic so far, struggling to contain the latest surge of new coronavirus cases even as its vaccine rollout speeds up.

The government announced Wednesday that 302 people died in a single day, bringing the country's total death toll to 20,737. The government said in a statement that most of those who died had been elderly or chronically ill.

The record toll came just days after Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he had no doubt Hungary would have a "free summer" thanks to the number of vaccine doses it was administering.

The country is well ahead of most other European Union member states when it comes to vaccination rates, trailing only the tiny island nation of Malta.

According to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 23.7% of adults in Hungary have received their first dose of the vaccine as of Wednesday, while 8.6% have been fully vaccinated with two doses.

One reason for the speedy rollout is the government's decision to authorize two coronavirus vaccines from Russia and China even though they have not yet been approved by the European Medicines Agency. Hungary became the first EU country to approve Russia's Sputnik V vaccine in January, followed by China's Sinopharm vaccine in February.

That means that while the rest of the EU has been struggling with supply issues as it relies on the BioNTech/Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, Hungary has been using the AstraZeneca as well as the Russian and Chinese vaccines since the last week of February.

Earlier this month, it gave emergency approval to two more vaccines, China's Cansino Biologics Covid-19 shot and CoviShield, the version of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India. It also ordered the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines through the EU, bringing the total number of vaccines it will have at its disposal to seven.

The country's chief medical officer said Wednesday that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would also become available in the second half of April.

The worst wave yet


But Hungary's relatively successful vaccine rollout has failed to prevent the country from spiraling into a new crisis. The central European nation has seen its worst days both in terms of the number of new cases and deaths in the past week. It has the world's second-highest coronavirus death rate per capita -- 209 deaths per 100,000 people, according to data tracked by CNN. Among countries of any significant size, only the Czech Republic has a higher rate of coronavirus deaths.

Some have expressed concerns about the situation in Hungary's hospitals. Several independent news outlets have written an open letter to the government asking for access to hospitals, Covid ICUs and vaccination centers. Government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs responded by saying "in hospitals, we should cure patients instead of filming them with cameras." He went on to accuse "left-leaning websites" of "spreading fake news."


Kovacs told CNN the reason for the record number of deaths was the new, more contagious variant of the virus first identified in the United Kingdom, which he said was causing "relatively more hospitalizations and fatalities."

Asked why the country was seeing such a high death rate, he said: "All health care capacities, treatments, medicines etc are available. So it's not the shortage of equipment/personnel."

The country went into lockdown on March 8, closing non-essential stores and shifting schools to remote learning. The closure of stores lasted until March 22, while nurseries and primary schools are due to remain closed until April 7.

Hungary is not the only European country battling to contain the new wave of the pandemic. Others have also struggled, blaming the surge in cases on new mutations.

The B.1.1.7 variant is more contagious, may cause more severe disease and is rapidly infecting younger populations, epidemiologist Michael Osterholm told CNN on Tuesday night. Recent research suggests the strain may also be more deadly. The variant has become the dominant strain of the virus in France, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic -- and experts are warning the same could soon happen in the United States.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×