Perhaps this post will be a bit of a time capsule, a reminder of a time when you needed to get a swab shoved up your nose to enter a store, but I still thought it would be interesting to share. In these strange times of a world-wide pandemic, my kids have looked to me multiple times to ask, “Is this normal?” and all I can do is shrug. No, none of this is normal. Few people alive have been through anything like COVID-19 and it often feels like all of us – even our governments – are making it up as they go along.

Germany During Corona Right Now

The atmosphere in Germany seems cautiously optimistic at the moment. After being in some form of lock down since November 2020, there is hope more of the measures will lift by end of May 2021. After months of ever-rising numbers of infection and steady death toll, it was just this weekend that Germany went a day without a COVID-related death.

The government’s current plan is to lift most pandemic restrictions for the fully vaccinated and previously infected (an estimated 10 million people) this month. This is contrary to earlier reports that claimed Germany would resist making two classes of citizens and there has been some huff as it does seem unfair. Many of us are happy to get vaccinated, but Germany’s original vaccine rollout was as slow as molasses and numbers of vaccinated are just now catching up to early expectations.

Waiting for COVID Test Berlin Mall PHOTO: Erin Porter

In any case, last week most of the restrictions were still in place and I had a little boy with a quickly approaching second birthday. While we had taken advantage of online shopping, there were a few tricky items we wanted to try and find in-person. A usually drama-free visit to the local mall turned into a high-stakes operations of scheduling visiting times at shops and getting a free COVID test on-site.

COVID Testing in Berlin

To help slow down infections, Germany allows residents to get one free rapid test per week, as well as selling self-tests everywhere from DM to Netto, since March 2021. Testing centers have popped up everywhere, including within malls. Once we realized we would need to brave a real-life, in-person shop, we tried to prepare for the test.

It seemed easy enough. Location right in the mall, estimated waiting time for results about 30 minutes, schedule appointment times at the shops we wanted to visit shortly thereafter.

It didn’t go exactly to plan. While there was ample signage – even in multiple languages like Turkish and English – we didn’t quite know where to go. We joined the disappointingly long line to get tested around 10:30, shortly after the mall had opened. Shuffling our way toward the front, my husband grumbled about the people wearing masks beneath their nose, or standing far too close for comfort. Despite the promise of being counted with the vaccinated if we did catch Corona at this point, neither of us wanted to get sick in what could be the last days of the pandemic in Germany.

As we got close to two out of four open windows on this Monday morning, I pulled out our passports and stood ready to be swabbed. The attendant was incredibly soft-spoken in the loud mall environment beneath a mask, but kindly switched to English to better facilitate our transaction. Along with our passports, we should have brought our Anmeldung to prove we were residents. Honestly, that was a rookie move on our part. Sure, nothing in the paperwork said we should bring our registration, but in a country that requires this document to buy a cheap Handy (cell phone) we should have expected we would need it. She accepted our German public health insurance cards instead. Crisis averted.

About to be Swabbed PHOTO: Erin Porter

The other step we missed is that we should have registered beforehand. Then the results apparently get e-mailed directly to you and registration can be as easy as swiping your phone. One silver lining of the pandemic is that things that were previously impossible in Germany like paying with card, working from home, and even doing your Anmeldung online (!) are now the norm. Luckily, Germans love of paperwork still stands so there was a temporary office set-up in the center of the mall where they would print your results and you could show that like a golden ticket to enter previously off-limits areas.

We continued to move through the sterile testing space until we reached a corner where a man in a hazmat suit (literally) ushered us into a small cordoned off space, had us put our back to the wall one by one, then swiftly swabbed the back of our mouth and nose. It was as unpleasant as reported. My husband is still complaining a week later. I’ve heard in the USA many people are allowed to swab themselves which seems completely bizarre. I am sure I would not go as far as necessary if I had to do it myself. If anyone has any insight on why this is the case, I would be very interested to hear.

We took our barcoded swabs around another startlingly white corner and dropped them off at a window where lab techs could be seen feverishly working. Blinking, we stepped back into the halls of mall. With 30 minutes to kill, we browsed at the bookstore Thalia which oddly does not require a test to enter. I think at this point most people have stopped trying to guess why some places are unrestricted while other have strict protocols.

As the time for our first shop appointment approached, we made our way back to the results office to get our shiny bill of health. Unfortunately, everyone else chose to join the line at that exact moment. Time ticked by and we saw our appointment time come and go. My husband stood next to me fuming as people got to the front and were turned away, clearly too impatient to have waited the 30 minutes and effectively slowing down the whole process. Finally, we reached the front and I was ready again with our IDs. The attendant looked us up and we were issued our proof negative paperwork in about 30-seconds.

We were off! We went straight to our second-appointment at TK Maxx and showed our registration via phone, our IDs, and our newly minted negative-Corona paperwork. After finding a couple of adorable items there for our little boy, we went to H&M where we had missed our first appointment. The retail worker presiding over the small throng of people trying to figure out what they needed kindly explained we could make a new appointment for right now online which we did, showed our paperwork, and then were allowed to enter. At a small toy shop later that day, we were allowed to enter with just our masks, but a small upstairs room was off limits until we showed our negative test. We entered a shoe store by simply giving contact details in case they needed to trace an infection. Like I said, the rules seem wholly uneven.

In any case – we did it! We shopped in the times of COVID.

COVID Vaccinations in Germany 

I am relieved to say vaccinations in Germany have finally reached an acceptable speed. An estimated 15 million doses were given out in April alone. On May 6th AstraZeneca was declared available to all adults and on May 10th, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was also  made available. It feels like we are finally getting there.

My husband is in a priority group (priority 3) and already had his first shot of AstraZeneca. My work has been sharing tips about doctors that vaccinate like we are trying desperately to attend the best underground club, which we kinda are. It was through one of these tips from work that I scored an appointment for my first shot today. I may be meeting some of my colleagues in-person for the very first time as we have appointment times one after the other. I might be getting my shot right as you are reading this and I couldn’t be more relieved.