State takes over costs: Corona vaccination free of charge for all Austrians

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Fast and affordable: The manufacturers of Covid vaccines are competing for the market. As reported, the first doses of a Covid vaccine are to be produced for 2.50 euros at the end of the year. Country- and dealer-specific surcharges are possible – but not in Austria. Here, the federal government will take over the costs. “Everyone who wants to be vaccinated will have the opportunity. The vaccine will be given to the Austrians free of charge”, Austria`s leading daily “Kronen Zeitung” reports on Tuesday. According to the newspaper, the good news comes directly from the Ministry of Health.

In view of the announced price of 2.50 euros – this is the amount of money the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca plans to produce the first doses of a Covid vaccine at the end of the year. In Austria, according to the Ministry of Health, the vaccine is to be “low-threshold accessible” for everyone. In plain language, this now means that the federal government wants to make the vaccine available to citizens free of charge.

Austria gets six million doses via EU treaty

The market decides who is vaccinated first. Austria receives six million doses through an EU contract with AstraZeneca. Discussions with other manufacturers are underway at the provincial and EU level. Experts believe that a global vaccination strategy makes more sense: first, the drug must be administered where most deaths can be avoided. The second priority would be countries with the greatest economic and social damage. Then come countries with high infection rates.

In the case of national solo efforts, the most sensible distribution is a question of the type of vaccine: If it generates immunity, younger people should be vaccinated first to slow down the spread. If it relieves the disease, older people should be protected first.
Health Minister Rudolf Anschober had emphasized this at the signing of the EU treaty at the end of August: “Our goal is to procure a sufficient quantity of vaccine for 8 million people, regardless of whether one or two doses are needed to produce the vaccine protection. In any case, it is our declared goal that a sufficient supply of vaccine is guaranteed for those who want to be vaccinated”.