The German government plans to distribute FFP2 protective masks at a reduced price to risk groups in December by means of an emergency law. Extra federal funds will be made available to support the masks financially. Distributors of the protective masks are thus expected to be stationary pharmacies throughout the country, after FFP2 protective masks were distributed in a free campaign in the federal state of Bremen. Pharmacies were partly overrun, therefore the action is to be extended to the whole federal state, however with a small self participation. The Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) will take over the regulation for the distribution of protective masks to so-called vulnerable risk groups, if the „third law for the protection of the population in an epidemic situation of national importance“ has authorized it to do so. The legal ordinance will then serve as the basis for the distribution of protective masks. The details of the concrete form of the claim are then also the responsibility of the BMG. The Ministry then decides, for example, what type of protective masks are to be distributed through pharmacies and how many. The distribution and dispensing will also be covered by the design as well as the pricing and design. This is intended to minimize the risk of infection for particularly high-risk groups, which would also reduce the risk of severe disease progression with the SARS CoV-2 virus. The Federal Government is still negotiating the amendment to the Third Civil Protection Act with the Minister Presidents of the individual federal states in the Health Committee before an extension of the catalog of benefits of the statutory health insurance (SHI) can be made. According to the amendment, however, persons not covered by the statutory health insurance scheme will also be entitled to protective masks. The plan is to provide 15 FFP2 masks per person for particularly vulnerable risk groups from the beginning of December 2020, so that one mask can be used per winter week, according to the calculation, in order to minimize the risk of infection with the virus. The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) will then decide by definition and give its opinion on which group of persons will be assigned to the vulnerable groups. The RKI is also involved and gives practical advice on the use of the „everyday masks“, after the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) was involved in the elaboration.
