Hungary will allow restaurants and bars to reopen their outdoor terraces from Saturday as more than a third of the population has received at least one vaccine dose, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday.

-Now 3.5 million have been vaccinated, so from Saturday morning catering premises can open their outdoor areas- Orban said during his weekly radio address.

-There is a beer on a terrace waiting for me too- he said.

Orban added other services, such as hotels, theatres, cinemas, gyms, public baths, libraries and indoor dining, would be allowed to reopen once four million people have received at least one shot of vaccine -- expected by the middle of next week.

People will have to show a proof of immunity, he added. Restaurants and other services have been closed since November.

The central European country of 9.8 million people has carried out one of the fastest coronavirus vaccine rollouts in the EU thanks to its use of the Chinese Sinopharm and Russian Sputnik V jabs.

Neither vaccine has been approved for use by the 27-nation bloc's drug regulator EMA, although the agency has launched a rolling review of Sputnik V.

Hungary has been one of the hardest hit EU member states, with one of the highest Covid-19 death tolls in the world, according to AFP data.

The government submitted a bill to parliament Tuesday that would extend its existing state of emergency powers to rule by decree until at least September.

Curfew to ease

Orban's critics, including a leading doctors' association, say the lifting of restrictions should be based on infection cases and deaths rather than vaccination levels.

Opposition parties have also accused Orban of downplaying the death toll. The government insists the country's excess mortality rate during the pandemic is around the EU average.

As the rate of new infections and other virus indicators have fallen steadily in the last week, Orban -- expected to face a tight election race next year -- has pledged to quickly reopen the economy, which shrank by around five percent in 2020.

A nighttime curfew that has been in place since November will be pushed back to 23:00 rather than the current 22:00 from Saturday, Orban said Friday.

Neighbouring Slovenia is also allowing cinemas and theatres -- that have been closed for more than six months -- to reopen from Friday under strict health safety rules.

Hotels with up to 30 rooms will be allowed to reopen from next Monday with customers being required to present a negative test result, vaccination certificate or proof of having recovered from coronavirus.