The days of shelling out €25 or even €50 ($30-60) for a rapid test may be numbered. The latest pandemic plan agreed to late Wednesday between Chancellor Angela Merkel and 16 state leaders, puts forward a complex, step-by-step guide to moving Germany out of lockdown. But little can happen without sufficient testing.
The federal government is expected to start picking up the tab for rapid tests starting next week.
Every person in Germany will be entitled to a weekly test, either from a test center, medical practice, or place of work, administered by trained personnel.
They seemed very tired after yet another meeting to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. Once again, they addressed the cameras and thanked the citizens of Germany, cited numbers and pronounced many "if and whens" — it's becoming almost routine. And once again, there was no genuine passionate appeal.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and her co-chairs, Bavarian state minister Markus Söder of the Christian Social Union (CSU) party and Berlin mayor Michael Müller of the Social Democrats (SPD), were exhausted after nine hours, and well over 20 crisis meetings over the past 12 months.
London (CNN Business)The United Kingdom is banking on a rapid vaccine rollout to bring its economy back to life this summer, while the United States is pinning its recovery hopes on another giant stimulus package. Europe won't have either, and it could be left behind.
The European Union's vaccination campaign has been plagued by manufacturing delays, supply shortages and distribution challenges, making it difficult for policymakers to plot clear paths out of economically damaging lockdowns.
The European Union's 27-nation vaccine strategy is splintering as member states turn to nations outside the bloc to boost a faltering rollout plagued by supply issues, contract skirmishes and sluggish takeup.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced Monday that he intends to work with Israel and Denmark on future vaccine production and cooperation around developing further shots to combat new coronavirus mutations.
