Mass Message

[projektreverb]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I’m surprised no one has talked about this here yet. Been floating all over Reddit and the Facebook groups. So an anonymous/unknown account has been sending this email to every region across happy/healthy. Definitely interesting...

 

[thecoolpharmboi]

Honestly I don’t get what the fuss is about. It’s retail and the expectations right now is to provide COVID vaccines to the public. Walgreens not necessarily banking or making money from them anyways. Others have way worse in this pandemic, especially in the beginning. If we want to be considered “healthcare professionals” then act like it. Nurses and doctors can’t just walk out of hospital when they have patients to treat. Same deal here.

 

[WorthlessOxygen]

Walgreens not necessarily banking or making money from them anyways.

How so? They cost $0 so whatever you're billing is pure profit. I would argue that they should at least be able to afford to send additional help and give covid shots outside normal workflow.

 

[projektreverb]

How so? They cost $0 so whatever you're billing is pure profit. I would argue that they should at least be able to afford to send additional help and give covid shots outside normal workflow.

Exactly. Walgreens has pretty much refused to hire any additional help, and is doing at least twice as many shots as CVS. Even CVS hired contractor/temp pharmacists. You know Walgreens is making money hand over fist, we’re supposed to believe they can’t afford extra people to help?

 

[Sine Cura]

As it turns out the set of unemployed (good) pharmacy techs actually looking for work is an empty set

Pharmacists are hot commodity as U.S. ramps up COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Some drugstore chains are offering hiring bonuses up to $20,000, according to pharmacy college administrators.

www.cbsnews.com

Remember when Walgreens was offering bonuses to pharmacy techs and pharmacists new to Walgreens? Guess what.... they and everyone else were trying to hire at the same time.

Same goes for the fast food industry having a hard time getting anyone to apply.

Walmart now offering $1,000 to new tech hires through June 4 IIRC but no bites either.

 

[Sine Cura]

Honestly I don’t get what the fuss is about. It’s retail and the expectations right now is to provide COVID vaccines to the public. Walgreens not necessarily banking or making money from them anyways. Others have way worse in this pandemic, especially in the beginning. If we want to be considered “healthcare professionals” then act like it. Nurses and doctors can’t just walk out of hospital when they have patients to treat. Same deal here.

Retail pharmacy is not an actual profession

Sure, vaccine throughput is higher at a retail pharmacy versus a prescriber's office, but much lower than all the mass clinics that are popping up (the whole point was AcCesS)

 

[JustFillIt]

Honestly I don’t get what the fuss is about. It’s retail and the expectations right now is to provide COVID vaccines to the public. Walgreens not necessarily banking or making money from them anyways. Others have way worse in this pandemic, especially in the beginning. If we want to be considered “healthcare professionals” then act like it. Nurses and doctors can’t just walk out of hospital when they have patients to treat. Same deal here.

sorry dude - I disagree with you in the strongest way possible. You may be lucky enough to be working in a store where you have a professional/experienced technician staff but this is now the exception to the rule.

Any way you cut it - retail has become a hazardous nightmare which no reasonable person should ever have to experience. Its gone too far - and I will go as far as to say, “shame on you for validating this disaster”

I was wondering when someone would blow the whistle internally.. I remember day dreaming about doing it myself... What needs to happen next is for more people to hit “reply all” and stand in agreement.

for me - I have decided that unless retail goes back to the way it was 10 years ago, I will NEVER support that mess again. I would rather deliver mail or pick up garbage than do that again, and I’m dead serious.

 

[deleted1066189]

tech here, my pharmacy manager (boss) uttered something even I wouldn't expect from her. She never badmouths anything.
"CVS may be greedy, but what Walgreens is doing is criminal"

 

[projektreverb]

tech here, my pharmacy manager (boss) uttered something even I wouldn't expect from her. She never badmouths anything.
"CVS may be greedy, but what Walgreens is doing is criminal"

Between their layoffs last year, and their handling of the covid vaccines this year, it truly is. Anyone want to wager that another round of pharmacist layoffs will happen after COVID vaccines fizzle out? As a company, I don’t see them lasting much longer.

 

[Sine Cura]

There are not a few parasitical zombie corporations in the Fortune 500 that deserve to go down in flames (hi2u Wags and CVS). This is just another step (first the year of norms going ape over COVID + restrictions and now the year of COVID 19 shots) in the downward spiral of chain retail pharmacy

 

[johnpharm01]

Honestly I don’t get what the fuss is about. It’s retail and the expectations right now is to provide COVID vaccines to the public. Walgreens not necessarily banking or making money from them anyways. Others have way worse in this pandemic, especially in the beginning. If we want to be considered “healthcare professionals” then act like it. Nurses and doctors can’t just walk out of hospital when they have patients to treat. Same deal here.

Being piled with more workload when you are already understaffed is not "fuss". BTW great way to minimize and discount pharmacists concerns. I am pretty sure Walgreens could afford more staff to help with the COVID immunizations. They have already taken some PR hits from scheduling Pfizer at 28 days and some LTC facilities not happy with them. When the vaccine, supplies are free and you don't have to pay any additional labor, the $50 admin fee is a nice profit.

 

[projektreverb]

It’s very clearly a profit squeeze from a company that’s heading into the hole. Someone up there is trying to squeeze Walgreens for anything it has left before pulling a Toy Story on it.

 

[O.State]

Between their layoffs last year, and their handling of the covid vaccines this year, it truly is. Anyone want to wager that another round of pharmacist layoffs will happen after COVID vaccines fizzle out? As a company, I don’t see them lasting much longer.

begs the question: what happens to the profession if/when one among the big chains goes down?

 

[projektreverb]

begs the question: what happens to the profession if/when one among the big chains goes down?

Initially, I think the profession would be in dire straights considering how many pharmacists Walgreens and CVS employ. In the long run, I think the market would take care of itself. Maybe we’d see the indie market finally flourish to fill the void? The profession most certainly wouldn’t return to the hay day it was in the mid 2000s but it would reach a nice medium?

Maybe I have this all wrong?

 

[johnpharm01]

begs the question: what happens to the profession if/when one among the big chains goes down?

It changes. The jobs at the big chains are so bad, who cares?

 

[wazoodog]

I took my wife to Walgreens the other day for her second vaccine dose. As someone who's worked as a pharmacist behind the counter, I felt bad for how understaffed the pharmacy was. There was 1 pharmacist who came out to vaccinate 2-3 patients at a time, before going back to handle all the normal pharmacist duties for about 15-20 minutes. Repeat cycle. There was 1 tech supporting her and he was trying hard but looked barely out of high school and still gaining experience. I was impressed that despite the situation she managed to show patience and understanding with patients, but was firm with customers who tried to complain about the wait and get an attitude. I may been faster in my day, but shes definitely the better pharmacist. From the other side of the counter, you just appreciate that its one more place set up to administer vaccines and my wife was able to get a slot.

 

[ValeRx]

I don't know where that letter gets that Kroger has all kinds of extra help. Here in my district, I have spoken to people who still work there and there were over 100+ unfilled shifts that needed to be covered. They are not getting any extra help anywhere.

 

[Sine Cura]

I don't know any Walmart that shoots 50 people a day on avg except Pfizer stores. And if you wanted to get Pfizer more conveniently you could just hit up a drive-thru mass vax site that does Pfizer

Aren't most places doing their shots within the workjam, especially now everyone is giving shots without an appointment

 

[projektreverb]

Has anyone hit the point where they’re discarding vaccines at the end of the day now?

 

[Sine Cura]

If you are expected to break a vial with 30 minutes to go and shoot people until the moment of closing, you prob gonna have waste

 

[WorthlessOxygen]

Has anyone hit the point where they’re discarding vaccines at the end of the day now?

Yes. Sporadically a couple weeks ago, almost daily now

 

[Sine Cura]

Wasted 6 out of the last 7 days esp with "competing" vaccine products you are supposed to offer

Now wasting vaccine is considered virtuous because at least you are getting shots in arms where people weren't expected to get shot that day