Austria: The coronavirus tests are free of charge in the summer as well, the Minister of Health assures

Assurances that the free nature of coronavirus tests in Austria, which is still in force in this country, will continue to exist during the summer, gives today in an interview with the newspaper “Kronen Zeitung” the Austrian Minister of Health Wolfgang Mukstein, without, however, ruling out its abolition from the autumn.

If there is mandatory vaccination for all those who can be vaccinated, the situation will be reconsidered in the fall, he said, categorically excluding those who cannot be vaccinated – such as those under the age of 12 or high-risk patients.

There is strong protest against the positions of the Minister of Health, from the side of the largest opposition party, the Social Democrat, whose Health Minister Philip Koucher complains that “now that the number of infections is increasing again, there must be an increase in free coronavirus test and no withdrawal “.

Paid tests are not going to increase willingness to be vaccinated, but they could lead to an increase in the unreported number of infected people, warns a Social Democrat spokesman.

Gerald Loaker, the health spokesman for NEOS, the smaller opposition party, was the first to ask for Covid tests to be paid for after the summer so that as many people as possible can be vaccinated.

Now, in today’s interview with the Kronen Zeitung, the Minister of Health notes that “in the autumn the vaccinations will show stagnation from some point onwards. We have spent over one billion euros on testing since the pandemic began. That was right, but someone has to pay for it at some point. “

According to Wolfgang Mukstein – who comes from the Greens ruling with Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz’s People’s Party – “if everyone can benefit from the vaccination offer, the situation will be reassessed”.