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Rising corona numbers: are the rapid tests running out now?

2021-11-11T11:08:35.046Z


The fourth corona wave hits Germany more violently than expected. Rapid tests are now to be made free of charge again - and the demand for self-tests is also increasing. In many places they are already in short supply.


Enlarge image

Rapid tests in a retirement home in Lower Saxony

Photo:

Björn Hake / imago images / Pressedienst Nord

Corona rapid tests?

"Sorry, no one left," says the cashier in the Budni drugstore across from the UKE, Hamburg's largest hospital.

“They've been sold out for days.

Try it next door. "

But no quick tests can be found either in the local pharmacy or in the two nearest Budni branches.

Only at Edeka there are maybe a dozen left on the shelf.

Are the rapid tests running short again?

Now, of all times, when the fourth wave of infections is breaking through Germany with unprecedented force - and citizens are to be given the right to a free weekly test again?

If you believe the head of the North Rhine Pharmacists' Association, there is already a shortage economy.

Specific bottlenecks at Aldi, dm, Rossmann

»The currently strong increase in the number of infections is leading to an increased demand for rapid tests in pharmacies.

In many places, tests are no longer available, "said Thomas Preis of the" Rheinische Post ".

»Even the suppliers for the pharmacies can no longer serve all orders from our member pharmacies.

We are therefore struggling with bottlenecks in tests for laypeople and in professional tests for our test centers. «And this, the pharmacist lobbyist added to the price, also leads to rising prices.

It wouldn't be the first turn in this pandemic.

In spring, when the rapid tests started, they were so popular that many sales outlets rationed them: only one pack per customer, unit price 5.00 euros, in some pharmacies twice or three times as much.

And people stood in line in front of some official test sites.

In the summer, hundreds and thousands of them were lying on the graveyard tables of discounters, sometimes for 99 cents.

Many people no longer tested themselves at all: they were vaccinated themselves, and the infection situation was manageable.

And then a number of rapid test centers closed when the state no longer financed the citizen tests.

In these November days, the rapid tests are suddenly in demand again.

The tests, which are currently offered at prices around two euros, are sold out in some places.

If you search for them on the website of the drugstore chain dm, you will see a map of Germany with all branches: marked with red flags (quick test not available here) and green flags (quick test available).

At first glance, red and green flags are roughly in balance.

But if you take a closer look, you will discover that, according to the system, there are fewer than ten tests in many green marked dm branches.

"At the moment, fluctuating demand and disrupted supply chains may mean that not all products are always available in sufficient quantities," admits dm managing director Sebastian Bayer, responsible for the Marketing and Procurement department.

However, the markets are "regularly supplied with new goods."

For an attractive offer, you also have different products from different providers.

On request, competitor Rossmann writes: "Availability is generally guaranteed, but the current high demand can lead to short-term bottlenecks."

Aldi Süd reports "currently an increased demand for corona self-tests".

However, this does not lead to supply bottlenecks.

"The tests are available in sufficient quantities in our branches." Competitor Lidl offers various self-tests in its branches as well as online: so far without any quantity restrictions.

Aldi Nord also recently registered “a slight increase in demand”.

As a result of these peaks, "in individual markets it can happen that the tests are temporarily out of stock until subsequent delivery."

The retail chain would like to continue to sell the »convenient and simple option of testing«, but does not want to »comment on the procurement of goods«.

Insiders do not expect a permanent shortage

The Bavarian State Chamber of Pharmacists has expressed itself in a similar way to Rossmann.

“The fact that more is being tested is increasing demand.

We hear that there are delivery problems here and there in pharmacies, ”says a spokeswoman.

At the same time, however, it gives the all-clear: "We are assuming that availability will soon improve again." A long-term problem is not to be expected.

After all, many retailers have now established comprehensive supply chains.

Apparently there is no shortage of manufacturers.

As a result, insiders doubt that tests will really be scarce in the long term and across the board.

According to them, even the demand for a short-term boost should be limited.

At least as long as the tests are not prescribed for vaccinated people, for example to take part in events.

In addition, many test centers have already closed - and will probably not reopen when they are planned to be reintroduced.

Because it's simply not worth it.

Testing in windy tents?

Not possible in the cold season.

Rapid tests need a certain temperature environment in order to function reliably.

Better premises cost more money.

If 20 test persons come a day and the provider is reimbursed ten euros per test, the 200 euros in sales hardly cover the expenses.

The fact that some pharmacies still complain about a shortage of rapid tests could be due to the fact that some medicine wholesalers have not ordered much in advance for the autumn - and are now getting the goods poorly.

"Many think that one is just waiting for the Germans," says Patrick Hofmann, managing director of DNA4Good, a provider of test solutions at events and in the workplace.

There are interested parties worldwide - who are often also willing to pay a little more.

In Germany, many customers hardly wanted to take any money, complains Hofmann.

»The test shouldn't cost much more than one euro in the purchasing department here.

You only get junk.

Airfreight logistics alone make it unprofitable to sell at such a price. "

Hofmann's stores are full.

But he only buys high-quality tests that have been checked by the Paul Ehrlich Institute and can cost 3.50 euros.

The fact that others are offered much cheaper in this country is also due to the fact that there was a simplified procedure until the summer to allow tests to be placed on the market.

Hofmann believes that companies and schools use tests that are sometimes of very poor quality.

"This often results in false-positive results that don't prove to be true afterwards." In Hamburg schools, for example, there have recently been a number of such cases.

They led to quarantine orders, which were then lifted after negative PCR tests.

Unsettled students, parents and teachers were left behind.

At least in North Rhine-Westphalia, something completely different is apparently in store for them.

According to the "Rheinischer Post", the school ministry in Düsseldorf has asked the secondary schools to bunker corona rapid tests for January as a precaution.

After all, the current contract with the supplier expires at the end of the year.

And: "In order to rule out any risks of supply bottlenecks that could arise from a change of provider," schools should now order more tests than they need, up to one and a half times the weekly quota.

Not only some headmistresses should worry about this.

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2021-11-11

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