Corona Balance: Billions Spent on Tests and Vaccinations

This is according to a report from the Ministry of Health to the National Council. It states that the total expenditures of the ministry for Corona measures from the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 until the end of 2024 amount to 11.46 billion euros. The largest portion of this, amounting to 5.18 billion euros, is for the extensive testing compared to international standards.

Extensive Testing Strategies as Main Cost Factor

In the report, which was submitted to the National Council at the beginning of the week and initially reported by the "Kleine Zeitung", the expenses for tests in schools and businesses are not included, as these were covered by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labor. As part of the test programs funded by the Ministry of Health and conducted through the federal states, around 208 million Corona tests were carried out by the end of June 2023, more than half (110 million) of which were the significantly more expensive PCR tests. Additionally, there were around 51 million pharmacy tests conducted nationwide in Austria.

More Than a Third of Tests Conducted in Vienna

There were indeed significant differences between the federal states: More than a third of the tests - specifically 75.6 million - were conducted in Vienna, where less than a quarter of the total population lives. In Lower Austria - with around 1.7 million inhabitants, the federal state with the most residents after Vienna - 41.2 million tests were reported, whereas in Styria, with at least 1.2 million inhabitants, only 23 million tests were conducted.

Corona Vaccinations and Medications as Additional Cost Factor

According to the Ministry of Health, a total of approximately 1.77 billion euros was spent on vaccinations against the coronavirus over the past four years. Of this, 1.0 billion was used for vaccine procurement, with the remainder spent on transport, storage, disposal, the electronic vaccination pass, and vaccination campaigns. A total of 21.5 million vaccinations were administered by the end of 2024. Approximately 357 million euros were spent on medications for the treatment of COVID-19. Expenditures for protective equipment amounted to 627 million euros. Comparatively inexpensive was the wastewater monitoring for pandemic surveillance, which has incurred costs of 4.2 million euros since 2020.

A larger budget item is the expenditure for loss of earnings for those who had to isolate according to the provisions of the Epidemic Act. This incurred costs totaling 2.44 billion euros. The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs spent 225 million euros on social measures, such as combating the consequences of poverty and long-term care. The report does not include expenditures by other ministries for COVID-related measures.

FPÖ Criticizes Tax Money Waste by the "Misery Government"

The FPÖ took the published figures as an opportunity for a broadside. "ÖVP, SPÖ, NEOS, and Greens - they were all involved in sinking Austria's tax money into oblivion and harassing the population," criticized health spokesperson Gerhard Kaniak. The black-green coalition was incapable of establishing a functioning pandemic management and "ruthlessly burned hard-earned tax money," which is still missing today. The current government's response to the emerging foot-and-mouth disease also reminds "of the time of the misery government."

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.