A Hungarian cargo plane loaded with China’s COVID-19 vaccines took off from China’s capital Beijing on Tuesday. Hungary is set to receive its first shipment of Chinese vaccines soon.

The country has ordered enough supplies from China’s Sinopharm to inoculate 2.5 million people.

The country is the first EU member to acquire China-developed vaccines.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said “This deal will speed up vaccination, which could save the lives of thousands of people and contribute to lifting restrictions sooner.”■

Produced by Xinhua Global Service