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Patient and nurse in Covid-19 intensive care unit
Photo: Bernd Wüstneck / dpa
In view of the stagnating vaccination rate in Germany in winter, scientists warn of sharply rising costs for the health system.
According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), there is a risk of spending around 180 million euros per week on hospital treatment for people with Covid 19 disease.
This development could be avoided with a higher vaccination rate, the scientists wrote.
Since August, the proportion of unvaccinated people in inpatient corona treatments has been almost 85 percent on average.
According to the AOK, the treatment costs per patient amount to an average of 10,200 euros.
According to the calculations by the Kiel scientists, this results in expenses of more than 160 million euros for the inpatient treatment of unvaccinated adults and adults with corona for the months of August and September 2021.
Including expected late registrations from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the amount will rise to around 180 million euros.
The scientists warn in their calculations: In winter, spending could rise to 180 million euros per week if the vaccination rate does not increase and the RKI's prognosis of a seven-day incidence of 400 per 100,000 inhabitants occurs.
The authors also anticipate an increase in the average treatment costs, as the intensive care beds could increasingly be occupied by younger people, who would have a higher chance of survival, but this would also extend the duration of treatment.
According to data from the RKI, almost 70 percent of people in Germany have been vaccinated at least once.
66.1 percent of the total population are now fully vaccinated.
The RKI assumes, however, that probably more people among adults are vaccinated than the data suggest.
In a report at the beginning of October, for example, it was said that the rate for people who were once and fully vaccinated from the age of 18 could be up to five percentage points higher.
mmq / dpa
