Doses of the Sinopharm coronavirus disease COVID - 19 vaccine are pictured in Budapest, Hungary February 26, 2021. REUTERS Bernadett Szabo Bernadett Szabo
BUDAPEST, Oct 22 Reuters - Hungary's main doctors' association on Friday urged Hungarians not immunised against COVID - 19 to stay away from mass rallies this weekend amid a rise in cases across central Europe.
The region has the European Union's lowest vaccination rates, an unwelcome distinction in which both political and economic factors play a role, and deadlier variants of the virus are spreading there fast.
Supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, 58, are to hold a march across central Budapest on Saturday to mark the 65th anniversary of Hungary's failed uprising against Soviet rule.
Orban's rallies generally attract tens of thousands and the event can serve as a show of force for the nationalist, who is contesting a Spring parliamentary vote in which he will face a united opposition for the first time since 2010.
The joint opposition also plans a rally of its own, its first major mass event since small-town mayor Klara Dobrev stunned leftist frontrunner Peter Marki-Zay in a primary run-off last week to become Orban's challenger next year. Due to the rapid spread of the aggressive coronavirus variant that can also cause severe side effects, the Hungarian Medical Chamber is calling on our compatriots that only those with immunity certificates should attend mass events and they should also wear masks, the chamber said in a statement.
Asked whether Hungary, which has seen a steady increase in new cases over the past weeks, was planning to make mask wearing mandatory again, Orban's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, said Hungarians were old enough to decide whether they should wear them.
On Friday the country registered 2,548 new cases, bringing their total number to 843,825 with 30,492 deaths. About 5.7 million people, or slightly over half of the population, has been fully vaccinated against COVID - 19.