Hungary is the first country in the EU to approve China's CanSino Biologics Covid-19 vaccine and CoviShield, the Indian version of the AstraZeneca shot, for emergency use.
New infections are surging in Hungary in a third wave of the pandemic, even as vaccine import and usage rates are among the highest in the EU with the country using Chinese and Russian vaccines as well as Western shots.
If both new vaccines are also approved for mass use by the National Health Centre, Hungary will have seven sources to procure vaccines from.
It was unclear when and in what quantity Hungary planned to deploy the newly authorised vaccines, or how it planned to buy them.
"We are in a race against time," Hungary's surgeon general Cecilia Muller told a news briefing.
"We will overturn the four corners of the world for as many doses of proper efficient and safe vaccines as possible."
Hospitalisation rates are at record levels, some hospitals being so overwhelmed by the influx of patients that they are asking untrained volunteers to help, despite Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban saying the health system would cope.
The spreading third wave presents a big challenge for Mr Orban, who is facing into elections next year, who said tough lockdown measures could start to ease once the vaccination figure reached 2.5 million people, or a quarter of the population.
