A proposal for vaccination logistics

A left-liberal analyst encourages the government to devise a detailed vaccination plan to avoid chaos if vaccines start to arrive in large quantities.

In Népszava István Tömpe, an economist who served as the head of the privatisation agency under the last Communist government, then as a banking CEO, thinks all citizens should be given a number according to their ranking based on health risk criteria. The health authority in charge of vaccination should be able to contact them as soon as the date and venue of their vaccination is known. At present, he explains, Hungary receives only tens of thousands of vaccines per week, but within a few weeks, he hopes, large quantities of the vaccine will arrive. By that time Hungary should be ready to roll them out immediately, with vaccination points equipped and rules of procedure established. Tömpe is certain that the government intends to handle the emergency as best it can since any failure could seriously damage its chances of reelection in 2022. Therefore, he thinks, there should be no conflict of interest between the government and opposition in this. He cautions the government against insisting on rolling out a million doses of an unpopular Chinese vaccine, as such a move would worsen its electoral chances. At any rate, he argues, the authorities, are not ready to deploy millions of vaccines within a short time. By the time they are, the more popular western vaccines will be available, he predicts.

Tags: China, coronavirus, Russia, vaccination