Panel SA: Vaccine against Covid in pharmacy is not a huge market, says Raia Drogasil

Pharmaceutical retail giant Raia Drogasil is considering entering the private Covid vaccine market, but does not see it as a big deal. Marcilio Pousada, president of the RD group, says that the company has a lot being negotiated but it is still small. There are plans to start next week in just one or two stores.

Competitors Pacheco and São Paulo, which have already announced the start of the service, also enter with just three stores.

“I think the big process is the government’s and it will be with it for a long time. The private market as a whole needs to come in at some point to help. I don’t think it would be a large volume. The government is responding well”, says Pousada .

How is the vaccination service in the group? And what about Covid?We’ve been vaccinating in our stores for about six years, flu shots and a few others. It’s normal for our business. We currently have 300 vaccine-ready pharmacies. The flu is in full swing, and it helps contain the outbreak that is happening.

We are also following the entry of the Covid vaccine. I think we’re going in now. There’s a lot being negotiated, but it’s still small. We think that the government still has a preponderant part in the vaccine gesture of Covid.

How big is this market at a time when access to free vaccines is easy?I think the big process is the government’s and it will be with it for a long time. The private market as a whole needs to step in at some point to help. It’s our focus. I don’t think it would be a big volume. The government is doing well.

Who would the audience be?The public for the batch of vaccine in the private market can be, I’m estimating here, that it is that customer who has not yet entered the fourth dose and wants to have that dose after four months. Everything has to be guided by the Ministry of Health. If we are really going to apply the vaccine in pharmacies, as it may happen next week in one or two stores, we will follow the protocol.

I don’t think it’s a huge market right now. Now it is the government, which is doing well. But we have to prepare for a moment when the government switches its investments to another place, and the private market can help the population in the vaccination process.

Do you have any logistical difficulties?There’s always a vaccine. You have to be careful with the temperature. These 300 pharmacies that we have are prepared to apply vaccine.

This government vaccine was not made to serve retail. So, there is specific training and an operational process. These doses, if not applied on the same day, seem to last another day, but you have to store them at the right temperature. We are preparing all this. If we’re really going to do it, we’re going to do it like the government did.

What is the difference between the Covid vaccine and the others?In the vaccines that we apply today in the store, each application is exactly the ideal size in the package I receive. These Covid vaccine packages that were made for government, all over the world, are more economical. Each bottle has ten applications. This is an adaptation in the operation, but my team is well trained.

Does this expertise also come from the experience in which you worked in the application of the vaccine in partnership with the government?Right at the beginning of vaccination, we partnered with some municipalities. We help with logistics. We provide parking, vaccination room, people to help in the queue. This was very strong in São Paulo. In Porto Alegre, which was carried out at the football stadium, the government organized it, and my team administered the vaccine. We have the protocol set up and 10,000 pharmacists.

Another market that the pandemic opened up to the sector was testing. What changed after the self-test arrived? Did the test demand drop in the store?It had a reduction by the waves of Covid, but also by the practicality of the self-test. An important point of difference is that in the pharmacy we put everything in the system integrated to the Ministry of Health.

And the mask? How sales are?We saw a huge drop in demand for masks. And it started to come back a little bit now, about a month ago. It is very similar to what happens in the rest of the world.

And inflation, how are you feeling?There is a very strong pressure on costs, our expenses with rent, personnel, energy, diesel for transportation. And it happened with much more force until March. Our market is regulated. The government sets the price increase. There was a change now and we just passed it on, there’s nothing to do. We do a little promotion so that the customer doesn’t feel the increase too strongly, and over time the increase is absorbed by the market.

There is a discussion in the industry to release the ceiling on the medication adjustment. How do you look at it?We think it’s an industry decision with the government. We operate what they ask for. The way it is done today is not bad. It has a well-built rule, which seems fair. But who can speak better is the industry, which is most affected by production costs. We are merely a passer of this readjustment every year.