If you receive money from the jobcentre, you are insured in the statutory health insurance system. Just like everyone else who is covered by the statutory health insurance system, you are entitled, under Book V of the Social Code (Sozialgesetzbuch), to a range of services, especially medical treatment, pregnancy and maternity services, and services for the prevention and early detection of diseases.

If you receive social assistance (Sozialhilfe), you are not compulsorily insured in the statutory health insurance system. However, you will receive a health insurance card from a statutory health insurance fund, and this allows you to access healthcare services if you need them, in line with the services provided by statutory health insurance. The costs will be covered by the welfare office (Sozialamt).

If you receive benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act (Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz), you are only entitled to the medical and dental treatment required for the treatment of acute illness or pain during the first 18 months of your stay in Germany. This includes the provision of medicine and dressings, as well as other benefits required for recovery, improvement or alleviation of illness or its consequences.

Officially recommended vaccinations and medically necessary preventive examinations for the prevention and early detection of diseases or the consequences of diseases are also covered, among other things.

Expectant mothers and mothers in the first few weeks after a birth are entitled to medical and nursing care as well as support, midwife assistance as well as medicines, surgical dressings and therapeutic products.

Further benefits can be granted if they are essential to ensure health in the individual case. This regulation makes it possible for the competent authorities providing benefits to meet special needs in the individual case. The law does not provide for any restrictions for the type of illness, which means that treatment for mental health problems can also be included.

You can find more information about medical care at medmissio Institute for Global Health. Its MedBox aid library offers a toolbox for Ukrainian refugees with answers to urgent questions about their medical care.

At www.fernarzt.com (in German only) you can make an appointment online to speak with a medical professional by telephone or video, and you can get a prescription for medication quickly.

If you are unable to work for health reasons, you must get an official certificate confirming your incapacity for work from your doctor. On 1 January 2023, the electronic certificate of incapacity for work replaced the paper certificate.

Now, your doctor sends your incapacity for work certificate in digital form to your health insurer. Your employer is obligated to contact your health insurer to access your electronic certificate. This means that you no longer need to worry about submitting your incapacity for work certificate to your employer. This applies to all workers, including people in marginal employment.

However, you still need to inform your employer about your sick leave so that they can start the process of contacting your health insurer and accessing your certificate.

If you need to see a dentist, you can find more information, such as standard forms in many languages, from the professional organisation of all dentists in Germany here: https://www.bzaek.de (in German only).

Patient information to download (in Ukrainian) PDF, 119 KB, nicht barrierefrei

Medical history form to download (in German and Ukrainian) PDF, 242 KB, nicht barrierefrei

Emergency treatment questionnaire to download (in German and Ukrainian) PDF, 244 KB, nicht barrierefrei

Doctors in private practice
In general, illnesses are diagnosed and treatment is prescribed by doctors working in individual or group practices (niedergelassene Ärztinnen und Ärzte). These doctors also issue prescriptions for medicines and can refer their patients for admission to a hospital for further treatment.

Doctors in private practice may bill the social services office (Sozialamt) or a statutory health insurance provider (Krankenkasse) for their services, or patients can pay for their treatment at the doctor’s office themselves. If you do pay yourself, you cannot be reimbursed afterwards.

Important: Most doctors see patients by appointment. You should therefore make an appointment, preferably by telephone. You can also make appointments online, for example on the Doctolib website (in German only). Make sure you keep to the agreed date and time! Patients without an appointment can usually expect waiting times.

Doctors must keep medical confidentiality. They are not permitted to disclose the information they are entrusted with to third parties. Certain infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, must be reported to the public health authority. This is the only way to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. This notification does not affect the processing of an asylum claim.

Important: Many doctors speak English or another language in addition to German. Please ask about this. If you do not speak German well, it is a good idea to take a person you trust and who speaks German to the doctor with you. If you are in Berlin, kvberlin.de (in German) provides an overview which also indicates which languages are spoken in which medical practice.

Hospitals
You will be treated in a hospital only if treatment at a doctor’s office is not sufficient. A stay in hospital (Krankenhaus) must be approved in advance. In an emergency, you can go to a hospital without a prior appointment.

Pharmacies
In Germany, many medicines may only be dispensed to patients by pharmacies (Apotheke). You can get certain medicines (verschreibungspflichtige Arzneimittel) from a pharmacist only if you present a doctor’s prescription. There are also many medicines that can be bought freely without a prescription. The costs of these will not be reimbursed by the relevant government agency.

The pharmacist will inform you about how to take the medicine correctly.

At least one pharmacy near you will be on duty at all times of the day and night. You can find out which chemist near you operates an emergency service at Apotheken-Notdienst-Suche (in German) as well as from the emergency hotline 22 8 33.

Medical confidentiality means that patients can rely on doctors to maintain silence about everything that is entrusted to them. This also applies beyond the death of the patient.

The duty of confidentiality also fundamentally applies with respect to other doctors, members of the patient’s family and the doctor’s own family members. Conversations with your doctor, patient data concerning your illness or financial circumstances therefore have to be kept secret.

If your doctor violates the medical confidentiality obligation, in addition to measures under occupational law or professional disciplinary measures, he or she may also be subject to claims for damages and even criminal consequences.

Exceptions:

• In some cases, there are exceptions to medical confidentiality - for example, if you have a notifiable disease such as tuberculosis. In this case, your doctor has to inform the health authorities so as to protect the health of everyone. Important: As a patient, however, you do not need to fear any negative consequences. The notification of the health authority also has no effect on your residence title.

You can also voluntarily release your doctor from medical confidentiality at any time. To do so, you as the patient need to give your consent expressly or by means of conclusive behaviour (implied consent).

List of documents you will need to see a doctor
To see a doctor in Germany, you should take the following documents with you to ensure that your visit can take place without difficulty:

• Medical treatment certificate (you can get this from the authority, the city or the municipality, generally from the social welfare office) or health insurance card
• If necessary, questionnaire (to be completed, e.g., via Toolbox in Ukrainian and printed out in advance)
• When seeing a specialist doctor, a note issued by a general practitioner (if available) (referral)
• Vaccination certificate, record of x-rays taken, test results (for example, x-ray films, blood test results)
• List of medications (to identify any pre-existing health conditions)

Treatment after a coronavirus infection / Long-term effects of a coronavirus infection
If you have been infected with the coronavirus and belong to a risk group, please contact your doctor immediately. Seek advice on early treatment with medication. For these treatments to be most effective, therapy must begin as early as possible.

Symptoms and course of the disease
An infection with SARS-CoV-2 can vary greatly. Some infected people have no symptoms at all. Most experience mild to moderate symptoms and recover within one to two weeks. However, in risk groups, the illness can become very severe, leading to pneumonia, multiple organ failure, or embolism. Some people develop long-term health consequences after the acute infection.

Get plenty of rest after an infection. COVID-19 vaccination, according to the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO), reduces the risk of severe disease.

You can find information about the STIKO vaccination recommendation here.

Protection against infection
If you have symptoms of an acute respiratory infection, you should generally stay home for three to five days. Wearing a mask helps protect others—this is especially important if you cannot completely avoid contact with people at risk. People who belong to a risk group should also consider wearing a mask for their own protection.

More information can be found here and here.

Long COVID
Information about “Long COVID”, support services, the current state of research, and answers to key questions about Long COVID can be found on the website of the BMG Long COVID initiative.

Additional information about “Long COVID” can also be found here.

Yes. In principle, refugees in need of assistance from Ukraine are entitled to benefits under SGB II or SGB XII and can use these benefits to access health services such as vaccinations, which are covered by the statutory health insurance system if needed.

If registration under § 24 of the Residence Act (AufenthG) and thus an SGB II approval has not been completed in time, refugees from Ukraine will receive benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act (AsylbLG), which also includes the necessary vaccinations as part of the statutory health insurance coverage. According to the AsylbLG, the relevant authorities must ensure that refugees are offered the opportunity to complete their vaccination protection early on.

Further information in Ukrainian about infection protection and vaccinations can be found here. Additional information on vaccinations under AsylbLG can be found here.

In general, vaccinations should be administered according to the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) and be age-appropriate. The general guidelines of STIKO for the administration of vaccinations should be taken into account. For everyone, the lack of vaccination documents is not a reason to skip recommended vaccinations or to not start the initial immunization. It is important to catch up on any missing vaccinations as early as possible after arrival in Germany.

According to the Measles Protection Act (Masernschutzgesetz), all individuals born after 1970, who work, live, or are cared for in an institution covered by the law, must provide proof of complete vaccination or immunity against measles, or present a medical certificate stating a medical contraindication to vaccination. These institutions include daycare centers, after-school care, certain forms of child day care, schools, and other educational institutions where minors are primarily cared for (§ 33 Numbers 1 to 3 IfSG). This proof is also required for individuals who have been cared for in a children’s home for four weeks (§ 33 Number 4 IfSG) or are accommodated in a communal accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees (§ 36 Paragraph 1 Number 4 IfSG). The law also applies to individuals working in healthcare settings, such as hospitals and doctors' offices. The regulation applies to everyone who is at least one year old (proof of vaccination or immunity), children from two years old, and adults born after 1970 (two vaccinations or proof of immunity).

Further information on infection protection can be found here. The vaccination calendar of the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) is available in various languages here. Additional information on the Measles Protection Act can be found here.

Yes, in Germany, basic protection (basic immunity) against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is recommended for all persons aged 18 and over. This basic immunity is achieved when the immune system has had three contacts with components of the pathogen (vaccination) or the pathogen itself (infection). At least one of these contacts should be a vaccination. For some people who have a higher risk of severe COVID-19 illness, annual booster vaccinations against COVID-19 in autumn are also recommended. These include, for example, people aged 60 and over, people aged 6 months and over with certain underlying conditions and residents of care facilities. This also applies to people who have a high risk of infection due to their profession (e.g. in care) and to people who have close contact with people who cannot protect themselves well with a vaccination (e.g. because they have certain illnesses). The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is still widespread in Germany. Vaccination against the coronavirus is the most effective protection against COVID-19, especially against severe disease progression and long-term consequences (Long COVID).

For information on COVID-19 vaccination, see Infection Protection (materials in Ukrainian), among others.

Information material on the COVID-19 vaccination in several languages can be found in the following documents:

You can find more information about protection against infection here: www.infektionsschutz.de.