Germany ends free COVID-19 tests to promote vaccination

Germany’s health ministry announced that the COVID-19 tests for non-medical reasons are no longer free.

The German authorities announced on Monday that the rapid antigen tests will be offered only to those who cannot get the jab because of health conditions as well as to pregnant women and children under the age of 12. Others should pay for the test, the Health Ministry said in a statement on Twitter.

The EU country has stopped subsidizing free COVID-19 antigen tests, as all citizens now have been offered the opportunity to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

In its efforts to promote the vaccination, the German health authorities stopped the subsidizing of the tests. In most federal states across Germany, people without proof of inoculation or recovery from coronavirus are required to present a negative test result for dining in restaurants, entering cinemas, concert halls and indoor sports venues.

While moving to charge the unvaccinated people for the rapid antigen tests, the ministry underlined that anyone who has any symptoms or is a close contact of a person with COVID-19 will still get a free PCR test, DW reports.