The required amount of vaccine was already available to us in May. If the vaccination rate reached 80-90 percent, we would now be in a significantly easier situation in the fight against the epidemic, said Prof. Dr. Miklós Kásler in his latest video interview, in which he reported on the facts presented at the annual hearing of the People's Welfare Committee and the Cultural Committee, as well as the behavior of the opposition representatives. .
The minister recalled: in the first phase of the epidemic, Hungary produced the best results in Europe, it acted quickly and purposefully, and our country obtained the vaccine quantity that could have been used to vaccinate the entire population as soon as possible.
This amount of vaccine was already available in Hungary in May, and if the vaccination rate reached 80-90 percent, we would be in a much easier situation now, the minister pointed out.
He pointed out: Hungary started the third vaccination for the first time in Europe, and it is also among the first in terms of vaccination of the youngest age groups. In addition, I told you what scientific results we have, the essence of which is that all the vaccines we have used are effective, recalled the minister at the committee hearings.
These are not visions, but scientific facts
Regarding the impact assessment of the vaccines, he added: the third vaccination is necessary because, three to four months after the first, immunity drops to 7 percent, and after the second vaccination, immunity drops to 50-60 percent for all age groups. With the third vaccination, protection rises again above 90 percent. These are not visions or fictions, but scientifically proven facts. They make it absolutely clear that vaccination must be done and also explain why the third vaccination is absolutely necessary, he emphasized.
A typical mistake resulting from ignorance or lack of information
Regarding the waiting lists, Prof. Dr. Miklós Kásler recalled: by 2019, the waiting lists in Hungary were at the level of Sweden, which started to grow due to the epidemic, but despite the pandemic, the waiting lists are still better than the situation in 2010.
He added that waiting lists do not, by definition, include patients in need of emergency care, tumors and circulatory diseases. If there are no further epidemiological restrictions, hip and knee replacement surgeries can be performed in three quarters of a year and the waiting list can be restored to the level of 2019, the minister pointed out.
He responded to the attacks, according to which the diagnostics of cancer patients were missed during the epidemic, as a typical mistake resulting from ignorance or lack of information, mixing up oncological screenings and oncological diagnostics.
He stated: diagnostics had to be carried out in each case, which means that people with symptoms and complaints had to be examined.
During the interview of Prof. Dr. Miklós Kásler, other important topics of the hearings were also discussed, such as culture. He said: on average, European Union countries spend 0.4 tenths of a percent of their GDP on their country's culture. This figure is 1.3 tenths of a percent in Hungary.
Regarding the investments affecting the social and health sector, he recalled: social workers will receive an average salary of 170 percent higher next year than before 2010, and the government will spend almost HUF 1,700 billion more on health care this year than the then leadership spent in 2010.
There was an opposition representative who left the hearing even before the answer
The difference is extremely large, at the moment, the government provides HUF 2,880 billion for the financing of health care, noted the head of the ministry. He pointed out: after the reports, you could ask him questions, there was an opposition representative who left the hearing before the answer and left the room.
Representative Tímea Szabó asked her questions, then started a lively chat with her neighbor, and apparently tampered with something on her phone, I think she could have sent it to her friends because she didn't get any meaningful answers - said the minister, and then recalled the advice of one of the left-wing representatives that go and see the condition of the ambulances.
The Minister of Medicine responded as follows: I spent 45 years in hospitals day and night. I think that I have seen much more of the Hungarian hospitals than the representative, especially considering that I have been visiting the hospitals continuously for the past year as well - he emphasized, who reported on the two committee hearings as an overall positive event.
Source: MTI OS
Photo: MTI/Tibor Rosta
