Walmart, Kroger, others offers H1N1 vaccinations

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Retailers Jockey to Market Swine-Flu Shots. As Supply Grows, Drugstores and

Supermarkets Offer H1N1 Vaccine, Aiming to Boost Traffic, Publicize In-Store

Clinics By TIMOTHY W. MARTIN.

Pharmacies, supermarkets and other retailers are jockeying to become the go-to

provider for swine-flu vaccinations, in a bid to attract more customers and, in

many cases, promote their in-store health clinics.

With the vaccine becoming more widely available, Rite Aid Corp. is placing signs

that read, " Protect Yourself: H1N1 Vaccinations Are Available, " on the front

doors of its drugstores and hanging similar banners inside. Kroger Co. is

promoting its H1N1 flu shots on the cover of the grocery chain's weekly ad

circulars. Starting next year, Walgreen Co. plans to advertise its supply of the

vaccine in television spots and on its Web site.

" When patients say, 'I need to get a flu shot,' I want people to think about

Walgreen's, just as they think about us when they get their prescriptions

filled, " says Kermit Crawford, Walgreen's senior vice president of pharmacy.

Pharmacies and supermarkets, which are offering the shots for $10 to $18 each,

have seen mixed demand for the vaccine since state authorities gave them broader

access to it earlier this month. No sales figures are yet available. But H1N1

infections have been declining for several weeks, so the clamor for inoculations

has subsided since fall, when hours-long waits for them were common.

" Right now there's probably more supply than demand, " says Troyen A. Brennan,

chief medical officer at drugstore chain CVS Caremark Corp.

Still, such retailers see the shots as a way to publicize the role they are

increasingly playing in the nation's health-care system. In recent years, chains

like CVS Caremark and Walgreen have opened retail clinics, staffed mostly by

nurse practitioners and physician assistants, that provide basic services and

advice. Kroger, meanwhile, owns a stake in a chain of clinics that operate in

around 100 of its nearly 2,500 stores.

Until recently, state health departments reserved H1N1 vaccinations for

high-risk groups, including children and pregnant women. About 60 million

Americans—about one-fifth of the U.S. population—have been vaccinated, the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week, and the agency

estimates that about half of all Americans want the shot. The government is

trying to boost awareness with public-service ads on TV and radio featuring

politicians and young people urging the public to get vaccinated.

An uptick in swine-flu shots could help generate traffic for retailers at a time

when consumer spending has been weak. While drugstores' prescription sales have

been rising, front-of-the-store sales of nearly everything from potato chips to

batteries to deodorant have slowed. Over the past year, major grocers have been

reporting declining same-store sales, a key indicator of a retailer's strength.

" We clearly see potential opportunity " in the vaccinations, says Dowling,

a spokesman for grocer Safeway Inc., which runs Dominick's, Von's and Tom Thumb

stores. " The vast majority of our pharmacy customers shop the rest of the

store. "

Indeed, retailers are hoping the H1N1 shots will spark a jump in sales of other

flu-prevention products, such as hand sanitizer.

Some consumers are balking. Kathleen Buckley, a 43-year-old real-estate broker

in Hopkinton, Mass., says two of her relatives contracted swine flu in the fall

but recovered after taking other drugs. Ms. Buckley sees no reason to rush out

for an H1N1 flu shot. " It seems a little bit of overkill to vaccinate every

healthy adult in the entire country, " she says. " I'm going to rely on my immune

system. "

Walgreen, the nation's largest pharmacy chain by number of stores, says it will

have vaccinations in 49 states by the end of the year. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,

which has walk-in clinics at some of its Supercenters, is offering inoculations

in every state except Hawaii and Alaska, while CVS Caremark is offering them in

23 states and Rite Aid in 30 states. Safeway says it has obtained H1N1 vaccines

for all its 1,730 stores in 17 states.

The federal government supplies the vaccines free to stores, but retailers are

allowed to charge an administrative fee no higher than the regional Medicare

payment rates for seasonal-flu vaccines. These fees help cover the costs of

shipping and handling, as well as labor costs, retailers say.

Most retailers declined to say how much profit, if any, they make on the

vaccines. Walgreen, which charges $18 a shot, says the fee covers the cost of

administering the vaccine, the pharmacist's time and a " small gross profit. "

Fees also help cover the cost of other materials such as gloves, swabs and

cotton balls, as well as the disposal of the medical waste. A spokeswoman for

Rite Aid, which charges $15 a shot, says any profit on the vaccinations would be

slim.

Retailers have been trying to get their hands on the vaccine for months. Joni

Reynolds, director of the immunization program for the Colorado Department of

Public Health and Environment, says she was bombarded in the fall with phone

calls and e-mails from retailers inquiring about how to procure vaccinations.

" They wouldn't just call me, but they'd call me, my boss's boss, and my boss's

boss's boss, " Ms. Reynolds says.

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