The government is preparing for face-to-face education in the academic year starting on September 1, because the current situation of the coronavirus epidemic makes this possible, the minister without portfolio responsible for families announced on Tuesday after the meeting of the operative group responsible for restarting community life. Katalin Novák said at the press conference in Budapest that next Monday and Tuesday, as well as Thursday and Friday, a vaccination campaign will be organized for those over the age of 12 studying in public education institutions.

Parents must indicate their need for this by Wednesday, so that it can be seen how much vaccine is needed, he added.

He explained: the vaccination is carried out with the Pfizer vaccine in public educational institutions, and the involvement of school doctors and school nurses in the campaign is also considered justified.

The minister announced:

the rules of public catering have been amended, so children with special needs are guaranteed adequate food,

they indicate, for example, the carbohydrate content of the given food, and provide the opportunity to cool and heat food brought from home.

Katalin Novák also reported that the government is expanding the number of places in family crèches: their maximum group size will increase from 7 to 8 children from state funds.

The operators of the crèche must indicate their need for funding in this regard, he explained.

He also talked about how

in order to reduce the financial burden associated with the start of the school year, the September family allowances - family allowance, child care allowance (gyes), childcare support (gyet) - are sent to those concerned in advance.

The postal delivery started on Tuesday, and the subsidies will arrive in the bank accounts on Wednesday, he added.

Katalin Novák also touched on the fact that so far 5.7 million people have received the first vaccination in Hungary, 5.5 million have also received the second dose, and there are more and more people who are taking advantage of the third vaccination as well.

However, the fourth wave has already appeared in many countries - pointed out the minister, who therefore asks people, if they have not already done so, to take the opportunity to get vaccinated.

In response to a question, he said: 187,000 people have requested the third vaccination so far.

Speaking about the campaign launched in September to popularize the vaccine, he said:

they want to provide people with authentic information about vaccinations.

The minister hopes that, in addition to the campaign, politicians will encourage people to get the vaccine, regardless of their party affiliation.

The government is currently not thinking about restrictions in the fight against the epidemic, so the possibility of distinguishing between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated in the case of restrictions has not yet arisen, he said.

In relation to increasing the vaccination rate of poorer countries, he emphasized: the government feels primarily responsible for the Hungarian people, but if there is an opportunity, it will also help other countries get vaccinated.

To the question of whether the schools will receive guidelines for protection against the epidemic, he answered: there will be guidelines, but they want to give the institutions freedom in the matter so that they can introduce stricter rules if they see it as justified.

As in the previous academic year, classes may be quarantined if justified

he added.

In connection with the pension premium, he said: when calculating the premium, 25 percent of the amount of the November pension, but no more than HUF 20,000, is multiplied by the rate of GDP growth above 3.5 percent.

MTI

Photo: Attila Balázs MTI