The new prioritization of politics in the fight against the corona pandemic is: vaccination is important, testing is less important.

But there is resistance from science.

Instead of reducing the number of tests, as is currently happening, on the contrary, you have to increase their number significantly in order to get a better overview of the infections, says Alexander Markowetz from the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Marburg: “Testing is the medical thermometer of the pandemic.

The fever doesn't go down if you don't measure it. "

Christian Geinitz

Business correspondent in Berlin

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The professor has created a new paper on the expansion of the test offers under the title # test2ride, which is available to the FAZ.

In it, he argues similarly to other experts: Since more and more infections are symptom-free, especially among younger people, as many people as possible have to be examined regularly on a broad front, regardless of suspicion.

This also includes those who have been vaccinated to prevent the so-called Immunescape, the formation of dangerous virus variants.

"Because the more often the virus hits a vaccinated person, the higher the chance that a resistant mutation will occur," says Markowetz.

"Living room tests" documented by app

However, there has so far been no incentive for vaccinated people to be tested, as they have access to restaurants, flights and events with their proof of immunity. Markowetz suggests rewarding tests with free rides in local public transport. For every test completed, there should be a 24-hour ticket. The financial outlay is manageable, after all, public transport is already largely tax-financed today. The advance would have further positive effects: The utilization of buses or trains is increasing, while individual traffic is decreasing, and a stimulation of the retail trade, gastronomy and cultural offerings can be expected.

According to the model, costly swabs in your own centers or in medical practices will no longer be necessary in the future.

Instead, free “living room tests” are planned, the use of which can be documented by photo or video in an app, as is already the case in Vienna, for example.

In return for the submission, the user should receive a QR code as a ticket.

As an alternative, the digitization specialist suggests public PCR pooling tests, for example in the lollipop variant, which would have to be handed in at collection points.

100 million inoculated units

Meanwhile, the vaccination rate continues to increase. According to the latest information from the Robert Koch Institute, 57 percent of the population are now fully vaccinated. With an average of 340,000 injections administered per day, the mark of 100 million inoculated units should be reached in about a week. Because of the growing quota, the number of tests is already falling and could do it even more if the latest decisions by the Prime Minister of the federal states and Chancellor Angela Merkels (CDU) come into force. On October 11th, they want to abolish the free citizen tests for people who could theoretically be vaccinated.

The idea behind this is to create an incentive for this group to get an injection free of charge instead of having to pay regularly for the tests.

You can't avoid one of the two, as the heads of government have also decided on a 3-G rule for interiors: access to restaurants, for example, is then only possible with proof that you have been vaccinated, tested or recovered.

To put up with testing is the wrong way to go

Nora Szech, holder of the Chair of Political Economy at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, speaks out against the abolition of the free tests and in favor of the exact opposite way of expanding the tests. It is absolutely right to test as many people as possible free of charge in order to monitor the infections, she says. From her point of view, the offer should also include vaccinated people, as in rare cases they are also infectious. In order to increase the number of tests, many contact points are required on the one hand, ideally right in front of restaurants, cinemas and the like, and on the other hand, material incentives are required. Szech's research has shown that even small compensations worth 5 or 10 euros increased the willingness to test. “These can also be vouchers for shopping or for the chip shop,” she says.

On the other hand, even the low sums that the test participants would have to pay themselves had a deterrent effect.

This is why Szech is against taking tests for a fee.

The economist believes that it is right to give incentives to vaccinate as well, but these should be positive.

According to research, compensations of several hundred euros would have such an effect;

But it is the wrong way to put the vaccination offenders off testing.

"Better to ride a bike in the fresh air"

The professor believes that giving public transport tickets as test incentives is “too narrow a concept”.

For many people this is not interesting, in rural areas there is often a lack of suitable connections.

"You also have to ask yourself whether it is so smart to fill up local transport, of all places, when the pandemic rises," says Szech.

"People should rather ride their bikes in the fresh air."

Meanwhile, the UK is cutting prices for its NHS public health service's corona testing. A mandatory smear test for unvaccinated travelers returning will cost 68 pounds (80 euros) instead of the previous 88 pounds (103 euros), the Ministry of Health announced. Previously, there had been massive criticism of the high prices.