Status: 11.08.2021 10:27 a.m.
From October 11th there will be no more free citizen tests. What did the tests bring and what are the effects of the measure? Is the step correct?
Most of the citizens have done corona rapid tests in the past few months, which were paid for by the state. That’s over in the future. As of October 11th, you will usually have to pay for the tests yourself. They are then only free for those who cannot be vaccinated or for whom there is no general vaccination recommendation – such as pregnant women or children and adolescents. This is what the federal and state governments decided on Tuesday.
A measure that is welcomed by experts. The Göttingen medical ethicist Claudia Wiesemann considers the decision to be justified. “The vaccination against the SARS-Cov2 virus is the simplest and most effective preventive measure for all adults. Since it is safe, available and free of charge, the state’s task of ensuring the safety of citizens is satisfied.” The state does not have to pay for all “follow-up costs of an alternative decision or an individually risky way of life”.
Almost four billion euros in costs
Because the citizen tests have already cost taxpayers more than 3.7 billion euros this year, according to a list by the Federal Social Security Office (BAS). The federal government paid up to 18 euros per test until the end of June (twelve euros for the smear and six euros for the test kit; doctors received a flat rate of 15 euros). Since July 1, the costs have been reduced to 11.50 euros, as requested by the BAS tagesschau.de announced: Eight euros for taking the smear and 3.50 euros for the test.
In addition, a number of test center operators may have given incorrect information when billing. Suspected cases have become known in several federal states, and investigations are ongoing into suspected accounting fraud. Had in June WDR, NDR and SZ uncovered how easy the test ordinance makes it to charge excessive prices for rapid tests to the federal government.
Citizens mostly used the tests to overcome access restrictions, for example when visiting a restaurant or traveling by plane. Since these restrictions no longer apply to those who have been vaccinated and everyone has the opportunity to be vaccinated until October, the costs are no longer to be paid by taxpayers’ money.
It cannot yet be foreseen to what extent the changes that have been decided will have an impact on the 15,000 test sites nationwide. However, it is certain that numerous test centers will close when fewer people come to test.
The benefit of the rapid tests is unclear
It is unclear how useful the rapid test centers have been in the fight against the spread of infection. “The RKI cannot provide any information on this,” the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) explained tagesschau.de. There is a lack of both numerical material and accompanying studies: “The RKI has no figures on this because negative test results are not notifiable and it is not always transmitted whether a (positive) PCR test was preceded by a positive rapid test.
It is also uncertain how effectively a PoC antigen test can detect the now dominant delta variant of the coronavirus. The rapid tests were developed at a time when this variant did not yet exist.
“Rapid antigen tests are not reliable enough,” said Hamburg’s Mayor Peter Tschentscher on Monday in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach is more confident. The advantage of the particularly contagious Delta variant of the virus is its high viral load. It is therefore easy to identify with rapid tests, and possible sources of infection can be discovered at an early stage, he recently explained.
Should vaccinated people get tested?
Since those who have recovered and who have been vaccinated are unlikely to do any rapid tests in the future, critics fear negative consequences for fighting the pandemic. But that is far from clear.
Because so far there is no reliable knowledge as to whether it makes sense for people who have been vaccinated to be tested on a regular basis. “That is a good question that has not really been systematically investigated,” said virologist Sandra Ciesek in the NDR-Podcast “Coronavirus Update”. Delta has a fairly high viral load in unvaccinated people. In vaccinated people, however, the virus excretion and the viral load are generally lower. You now have to sound out whether that’s enough to detect infections in vaccinated people. “But it is certainly more overlooked than with unvaccinated people.”
In any case, Germany is one of the last EU countries that still offers free tests for locals and holidaymakers. According to the European Consumer Center, tourists in Croatia have to pay 20 euros for an antigen test, for example, in Greece also locals between 15 and 40 euros and in Italy up to 50 euros.