Hardly any other country tests as much for Corona as Austria. There are numerous free offers across the country. This practice could change in autumn, more and more players are considering an end to the free test offer – not least as a means of pressure for the vaccination. Upper Austria’s governor Thomas Stelzer (ÖVP) recently made a corresponding move. This was joined on Wednesday by the social security umbrella organization and the Lower Austrian Medical Association.
Tyrol’s governor Günther Platter (ÖVP) also questions permanent free tests. It is perfectly legitimate to have a debate about whether the corona tests should continue to be made available free of charge in the fall. “In the long run it will not work out that everything is always free,” said Platter to the APA. Vaccination, on the other hand, makes an essential contribution to combating the pandemic and should therefore remain free of charge.
“Disservice”
The chairman of the social insurance for the self-employed (SVS) and co-chair of the conference of social insurance agencies, Peter Lehner (ÖVP), spoke out on Wednesday against a statutory vaccination requirement. But one has to consider “whether the free testing is doing us a disservice”, he said on the sidelines of a press conference in Vienna and therefore recommended “rather going back from 3-G to 2-G”.
“From my point of view, testing was an important step at the right time,” emphasized Lehner. Due to his “political understanding and Austrian culture, he is against any obligation to have a vaccination”. But: “We see that we are currently unable to achieve the required vaccination numbers. We know that we need at least 70 percent,” explained the SVS chairman. The population should not only assume responsibility, but also responsibility for the country, society and the economy. “We can only fight this pandemic together,” Lehner called for vaccinations.
For months, the general public has had to “pay for those who refuse to vaccinate, even though there is enough vaccine available,” is the argumentation of the Lower Austrian Chamber of Physicians. Politicians are called upon to become active in this matter. The President of the Lower Austrian Medical Association, Christoph Reisner, emphasized that he always gave the free tests a positive assessment. But now a new aspect is being added that requires a more differentiated assessment: “As long as there was no or too little vaccine, these tests were important and necessary to keep the spread of Covid-19 as low as possible. Now, however, in Austria there is for each a vaccine that is approved worldwide and has a very high effectiveness. It is even possible to choose the vaccine yourself. “
From Reisner’s point of view, it is “completely incomprehensible that the general public still has to pay the costs for the expensive tests, just because some people do not want to be vaccinated for incomprehensible reasons.” In this context, reference was made to efforts in Germany, “where one hears from government circles that tests will in future be chargeable and no longer be paid for from public funds,” said Vice President Dietmar Baumgartner. “We want Austria to follow a similar path.” The average costs of a vaccination are also significantly lower than those of a test, according to the Lower Austrian Medical Association.
The state of Lower Austria reacted a little more cautiously and played the ball to the federal government. “This is a topic that the federal government will have to deal with in the autumn,” said the state of Lower Austria when asked. In particular, “if the free vaccinations are rejected for no reason at the expense of the general public”. At the moment, however, the focus is on vaccination and, associated with it, on persuading the undecided. “Because those who get vaccinated protect themselves, protect others and protect us all from restrictions”, was emphasized in the country house in St. Pölten.
In Carinthia and Burgenland, the tests will remain free until further notice, it said. The further course of action depends on the federal government, which reimburses the costs for the tests, the state of Carinthia said on Wednesday at the APA request. In any case, a uniform solution for the whole of Austria should be sought. The state government plans to start the “Alles gurgelt” campaign as soon as orders can be placed with the federal government.
From the office of Governor Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ) it was said that they currently have no ambitions to do something for a fee. Instead, the “Everything gurgles” campaign is to be rolled out in Burgenland and the focus will continue to be placed on vaccination.
The FPÖ reacted indignantly to the considerations about an end to free tests. “The ÖVP and the Greens now want to bring the population into the vaccination streets with chargeable tests,” criticized the liberal social spokeswoman Dagmar Belakowitsch. As long as there are restrictions and restrictions imposed by the turquoise-green government in private and professional life, the tests would have to remain free of charge – “Anything else would be extremely dishonest and would amount to a compulsory vaccination,” said Belakowitsch.
