Hungary PM flags easing of lockdown after Easter, economy rebounding in Q2

Hungary’s vaccination drive will accelerate and could potentially enable the country to ease coronavirus restrictions in April after Easter, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday. Nationalist Orban, who will face parliamentary elections in early 2022, is under pressure to reopen the economy. Finance Minister Mihaly Varga said the economy was likely to shrink again in the first quarter but that the second quarter could be a turning point. Hungary has already vaccinated nearly 250,000 people using Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines and, first in the European Union, has signed deals to buy large quantities of Russia’s Sputnik COVID-19 vaccine and Chinese company Sinopharm’s vaccine.