HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPEVINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL

Filipinos who travel regularly to the USA will often make favorable remarks about their drug store chains like CVS Health, Walgreens, or Cigna; calling it a one-stop paradise for all things connected to health, beauty, skincare, and wellness. During the Covid health crisis, several Pinoys would even make these drug stores the place where they’d get their Covid vaccine shots, commenting on how more convenient and reliable it was – even if one isn’t a US citizen.
And yes, I’ve had my nightmares with some of the drug stores here, where the long lines you contend with can challenge those of our NAIA immigration counters. Even as a senior, the queues I face would test the patience of Job – there have been instances when I’d have been better off watching grass grow. And if you think the senior counter is some time-saving privilege, think again. *AT THE RECENT Vaxx drive Watsons event; (from left) your columnist, Viki Encarnacion, Watsons PR & Sustainability director, Sonny Cuenco, Watsons trading health director, Dr. Tony Leachon, and Jay Soliman, Watsons business development comptroller.*

I’m the type who wants to line up, get my prescription filled up, and leave post haste. But it turns out I’m more an exception than the rule. Most seniors will buy in bulk and take countless hours to fill up their order, or think the drug store attendant is a doctor/psychiatrist and unload all sort of anecdotes, and idle chatter with them, or will take out their prescriptions and think they know better than what’s written on it, and go into lengthy bargaining discussions!
So I’m fully appreciative of what Watsons has embarked on, making accessibility, convenience, and all-around reliability the foundations of their upgrade plans. Watsons went online with their Watsons Health Hub; and with a few clicks, one can order the vitamins and OTC health products, tailor-fit for what one needs for his or her lifestyle. One can even have them delivered to one’s home in four hours or less, via the Watsons Home Delivery Express. *A MOVIE POSTER for the creative vaccination call-to-action AVP of Watsons.*

Invited to SMaison the other week, Watsons mounted a unique event that highlighted how select Watsons stores would now be offering specific vaccines, and that they could be administered right there at the stores with qualified personnel. Unveiled during the event were movie posters that were creatively designed for Watsons to support the AV material that would be showing in our regular cinemas, to drum up awareness of this new service offered by Watsons.
Flu shots, the anti-pneumonia and HPV (combats cervical cancer) vaccines are the first set of vaccines that can be bought and administered at these select Watsons stores. So here again, Watsons was taking a big step in making vaccines more accessible to the public – where point of sale, and being given the shot, are all done in one place, as it is in the USA. *Standing by the specially designed movie posters for their vaxx drive, Patrick Yu, Watsons marketing manager, Dr. Tony Leachon, Dharell Fontanilla, Watsons marketing manager, and Ica Rafael*.

If you recall, even as media platforms were drumming up awareness of the Covid vaccines and how one could get them through the LGU and malls’ collaboration; we in fact suffered from a relatively low vaccination rate during the height of the recent Covid-health crisis. And I’m well aware that fake news and disinformation on social media played their role in discouraging Filipinos from accepting the validity of these vaccines. Admittedly, the facts that these vaccines were rushed, and that a number who got them still succumbed to Covid, helped cast doubts on the necessity and/or effectivity of the vaccines.
With these three vaccines, the R&D stages are well-established, and I don’t think there’ll be much disputing on their validity. So yes, the issues will be more about awareness and the financial costs of these vaccines. But what’s important here is how Watsons is doing its part to make them available, in a manner that we have not experienced before. As Watsons Customer Director Jared de Guzman recently said, “Watsons is every Filipino’s health partner, and we want to make our products and services more accessible and convenient for them. Through the Watsons Health Hub, we hope to drive health literacy, and bring wellness and personal care products closer to Filipino homes.” Head to Watsonshealth.com.ph/ for more information.