Hungary will seek emergency domestic approval of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine rather than waiting as normal for a review by the EU's European Medicines Agency (EMA), Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on his Facebook page.

“The safety of the vaccine is not a political or ideological question, but a professional one,” he said. “If the experts make a positive decision, we will immediately begin drafting the contract to import the vaccine.”

He said Hungary had received the required documentation, without naming the vaccine or the manufacturer, Reuters reported.

Britain similarly used an emergency dispensation in European Union rules to allow its own scientists to approve a Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for domestic use — although the EMA bristled, saying its longer procedure was more appropriate and based on more evidence.