匈牙利與中國國藥公司簽署COVID-19疫苗協議 - 在歐盟首次

Recently Yahoo news on-line reported the following:

Hungary signs deal for Chinese Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine, first in EU

Reuters Thu., January 28, 2021, 11:25 p.m.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary became the European Union's first member to approve China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, sealing a deal on Friday for 5 million doses just a week after becoming the first EU member to buy Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose nationalist government frequently bucks the consensus of its EU neighbours, said he would personally opt to receive the Chinese vaccine, as he trusted it more than others.

The announcement came a day after Hungary's government issued a decree calling for any vaccine that had been administered to at least 1 million people elsewhere in the world to be given emergency approval.

China has been heavily marketing its two coronavirus vaccines, made by Sinopharm and Sinovac, with millions of doses shipped around the world to developing countries, particularly in Asia and Latin America.

Meanwhile, EU countries, relying so far almost entirely on a vaccine from Pfizer, have fallen far behind Britain, the United States and a number of developing countries in rolling out vaccines.

Hungary's drug regulator gave emergency use approval to the Sinopharm vaccine, rather than wait for the bloc's European Medicines Agency (EMA) to give the go-ahead, adding it to a list that also includes the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines as well as Russia's Sputnik now approved in Hungary.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on his Facebook page on Friday that the Sinopharm vaccines would be delivered in four batches over four months.

The 5 million doses would enable Hungary to inoculate 2.5 million people, about a quarter of its population, he said. Orban told state radio earlier in the day that the government had been monitoring the outcome of mass inoculations using the Chinese vaccine in neighbouring Serbia.

However, the Hungarian Medical Chamber (MOK) said Budapest should continue "to follow drug safety rules in a transparent manner and only approve marketing of products after a review respecting European Medicines Agency rules".

The Chamber could not immediately be reached for further comment. The drug regulator OGYEI and the government both declined immediate comment.

In Hungary, which has close to 10 million people, 364,909 people have been infected and 12,374 people have died of COVID-19 so far.

Even though new infections have been dropping, more than 3,600 people are still in hospital, straining the healthcare system, so the government has extended restrictions until March 1, including a 7 pm curfew and the closure of restaurants.

Translation

布達佩斯（路透社）- 匈牙利成為歐盟第一個批准中國國藥COVID-19疫苗的成員。匈牙利在成為第一個購買俄羅斯衛星5 (Sputnik V) 疫苗的歐盟成員之後的一周，在上週五達成了500萬劑中國國藥疫苗的協議。

匈牙利經常違背其歐盟鄰國的共識的維克托·奧爾班（Viktor Orban）總理的民族主義政府表示，他個人選擇接受中國疫苗，因為他比其他人更信任中國。

匈牙利宣布這一消息是在其政府發布一項法令的前一天發出的，該法令要求進行緊急批准任何疫苗如果對它已在世界其他地區有至少100萬人已接種。

中國一直在大力銷售由其國藥疫苗(Sinopharm) 和科興疫苗(Sinovac) 生產的兩種冠狀病毒疫苗，全球有數百萬劑被運往發展中國家，特別是亞洲和拉丁美洲。

同時，歐盟國家到目前為止幾乎完全依靠輝瑞公司生產的疫苗，在推出疫苗方面遠遠落後於英國，美國和許多發展中國家。

匈牙利的藥品監管機構批准了國藥疫苗的緊急使用批准，而不是等待歐盟的歐洲藥品管理局（EMA）的批准。獲得匈牙利批准還已包括輝瑞，Moderna和阿斯利康疫苗以及俄羅斯的人造衛星, 現在添加國藥疫苗到列表中。

外交大臣Peter Szijjart  週五在其臉書網頁上表示，國藥疫苗將在四個月內分四批交付。

他說，五百萬劑疫苗使匈牙利能夠接種250萬人，約佔其人口的四分之一。奧爾班當天早些時候告訴國家廣播電台，政府一直在監視在鄰國塞爾維亞使用中國疫苗進行大規模接種的結果。

但是，匈牙利醫學會（MOK）表示，布達佩斯應繼續“以透明的方式遵守藥品安全規定，尊重在經過對歐洲藥品管理局規定的審查後，才批准產品的銷售”。

從醫學會無法立即取得進一步評論。藥品監管機構OGYEI和政府均拒絕立即置評。

匈牙利有近1千萬人，截至目前其中364,909人被感染，12,374人死於COVID-19。

儘管新的感染有所下降，但仍有3,600多人在醫院接受治療，這給醫療保健系統帶來了壓力。因此，政府已將限制措施延長至3月1日，包括晚上7點宵禁和關閉餐館。

                So, in Europe, Hungary became the European Union's first member to approve China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine. I am interested to know whether Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine will also be approved.