Brazilian Law No. 14,125, published on March 10, begins the opening of an important path to make pharmaceutical retail a vaccination channel against Covid -19.
The same rule allows the purchase of immunizers by the private sector. Through an action led by the Brazilian Association of Networks of Pharmacies and Drugstores - Abrafarma, the text also defined that any health establishment with a room for injectable application is able to administer vaccines. Until then, this possibility was restricted to pharmacies with exclusive immunization spaces, following the determination of Anvisa RDC No. 197.
"The approval of the Law guarantees an important precedent for pharmacies to support not only the federal government and the states in the mass vaccination plan, but also to provide service to companies that acquire doses", emphasizes Sérgio Mena Barreto, CEO of Abrafarma.
There is currently a problem with the supply of immunizers in Brazil, but Barreto believes that this bottleneck will be overcome, which will provide conditions for the government to mass vaccinate against Covid-19. According to data, the large pharmaceutical retailer would be able to serve more than 2.2 million people per week. The law does not yet allow the sale of vaccines, but their distribution and application.
“After the immunization of the priority groups provided for in the National Vaccination Operationalization Plan against Covid-19 ends, legal entities of private law may, having met the legal and sanitary requirements, acquire, distribute and administer vaccines, provided that at least at least 50% (fifty percent) of the doses are obligatorily donated to SUS and the others are used free of charge.”
Reinforcement of correct storage
For all this new vaccination demand to be successful, it is not enough to obtain access to the doses, but to conserve them correctly. With new vaccines developed by different manufacturers around the world, some of them have special storage conditions, but most still require a temperature range between 2°C and 8°C to maintain their integrity. Storage must be done in scientific chambers regulated by the Ministry of Health. The old practice of storing vaccines in domestic refrigerators is prohibited by RDC 197/2017. The Biotecno intelligent conservation chambers, in addition to having the highest embedded technology in the segment, are certified by the North American FDA, which represents a new level of reliability for Brazilian customers.