BUDAPEST, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian government is going to extend its special vaccination week launched on Nov. 22 for another week, Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced here on Friday.
"The government will extend the vaccination action week, which started on Monday, by another week," Orban said on public radio MR1.
The special vaccination week was started in a bid to boost stagnating vaccination amongst the population, during its course, people can get inoculated nationwide without any prior registration or appointment.
Health authorities have called the ongoing program "a big success," as the country has registered more than six times as many vaccinations than the usual amount.
"We could have a big Christmas this year, but only if the number of people taking the third vaccine increases," Orban also said, adding that most people were taking the third dose in the frame of the ongoing vaccination week, with a smaller proportion applying for their first jab.
"A lockdown is only able to slow down the spreading of the virus, the solution is the third vaccination," Orban said, recalling that people also needed to adhere to the protection measures previously ordered, like the mask mandate indoors.
The Hungarian chief of government also said that Hungary would be starting the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 in the near future.
"The first shipment of the vaccine for 5-11 year olds will arrive on December 20, the government has ordered two million vaccines, the first shipment means 130,000 doses, to be followed by the rest," Orban said, urging parents to vaccinate their children.
Hungary on Friday reported 11,871 COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span, raising the national total to 1,068,888.
In the past 24 hours, 162 people have died from the disease, taking the toll to 33,866 in the country, while 862,534 have recovered. Currently, 6,913 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 695 on ventilators, figures from the government's coronavirus information website showed.
As of Friday, 6,087,474 people have received at least the first shot of a vaccine, while 5,823,818 had two jabs, and more than 2,269,551 got their booster shot, according to the website. Enditem