BUDAPEST— Hungarian health authorities issued final approval to a COVID-19 vaccine produced in China, clearing the way for the first inoculations with a Chinese vaccine in the European Union.

Hungary’s chief medical officer, Cecilia Muller, said during a press briefing that examinations of the Sinopharm vaccine by the country’s National Public Health Center had found it to be in line with documentation provided by its developer. Hungary received 550,000 doses of the vaccine on Tuesday, enough to treat 275,000 people with the two-round jab.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that he expected a rapid acceleration of vaccinations in coming days, and that health authorities planned to inoculate 650,000 people within a week to 10 days. Hungary has vaccinated 391,821 people to date.