Hungary will receive its first batch of 500,000 doses of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine next week, the prime minister's chief of staff said on Thursday. A vaccination program is due to start as soon as possible afterward.

Hungary will be the first EU country to use a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine.

It has also purchased two million doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and a batch of 200,000 shots is also expected to arrive in the country this month.