The Marburger Bund doctors' union warned of further infections due to the end of the free corona tests on Monday.
"Chargeable corona tests mean that fewer people with symptoms will be tested in the future," said the union chairman, Susanne Johna, the newspapers of the editorial network Germany (RND) on Sunday.
"This is a gateway for further transmission of the virus."
As of Monday, the citizen tests will no longer be free.
Politicians want to increase the pressure on unvaccinated people to get vaccinated.
Exceptions apply to all groups who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons and who can prove this, or for whom a vaccine is not yet available.
Spahn defends change
Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) defended the measure.
"Abolishing free citizen tests requires fairness in front of the taxpayer," said the CDU politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group on Sunday.
Everyone for whom it is recommended and who wants to have been vaccinated by now.
Tests in nursing homes, hospitals, schools or at work will continue to be free, the minister said.
"This is important to get through autumn and winter well." Everyone can continue to get vaccinations free of charge to protect themselves and others, added Spahn.
SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach expects that the number of vaccinations will increase due to the end of the free citizen tests: "Chargeable tests will mean that a lot of people still get vaccinated because they want to avoid regular testing," Lauterbach told the newspapers the Funke media group.
The chairman of the Marburger Bund, Johna, criticized RND, however, that it is not clear how many people have not yet been vaccinated.
The Robert Koch Institute reported on Thursday that based on surveys on willingness to vaccinate and registration data, a vaccination rate of 80 percent of doubly vaccinated adults and of up to 84 percent of those who were vaccinated at least once could be assumed.
That would be five percentage points more than is recorded in the digital vaccination rate monitoring.