Adult Vaccines Are Going To Save The Day! Really?

[Anonymous]

All of you stated the truth. Pediatric vaccines bring in a steady stream of revenue for Merck. That is always our strength. May be a hassle to the PCP but it is another office call, patient retention, loss leader or whatever you want to call it. Then we apply the pill model to all those adult vaccines to expand the market, create the needs, etc. I have seen only one PCP that got excited about all these and his worry was how to get them and get reimbursed without losing money.

That's why this f'en division is going down. Leadership/management trying to sell vaccines via the tablet model. Duh!

 

[Anonymous]

Well it looks like Zostavax won't be able to save the day this year now that it was announced earlier this week that there will be more back order issues until April or May.

 

[Anonymous]

Man, I am so glad I left. They just don't get it. They never will. PCPs will always think that vaccination is a hassle. They will buy a little bit of Pneumovax. Every year someone screws them over on flu. Zostavax is a joke. My parents wanted to get the vaccine and had to seek it out like it was the Holy Grail or something. It is always on back order. They will never understand that the Peds market makes the money, and it is all about selling the whole portfolio to larger accounts. Wait...that means every product needs to be available. Well, that will never happen. Get out while you can.

I hope you are finding life after Merck much more rewarding. During our national meeting when we went over Zosta training, the former pc reps who have been selling it for 3 years were still confused over all of the reimbursement scenarios. It was hystercial. There is no clear path to vaccinate the potential 50 plus million seniors. Too many variables (primary/secondary insurance, medicare) and the patient, doc or pharmacies don't want to deal with the bullsh!t. You are absolutely right about selling the whole portfolio to multi-specialty offices. However trying to sell our full portfolio is seeking the holy grail and we have the Knuts of the Retarded Table leading us from tablets. Take care.

 

[Anonymous]

I hope you are finding life after Merck much more rewarding. During our national meeting when we went over Zosta training, the former pc reps who have been selling it for 3 years were still confused over all of the reimbursement scenarios. It was hystercial. There is no clear path to vaccinate the potential 50 plus million seniors. Too many variables (primary/secondary insurance, medicare) and the patient, doc or pharmacies don't want to deal with the bullsh!t. You are absolutely right about selling the whole portfolio to multi-specialty offices. However trying to sell our full portfolio is seeking the holy grail and we have the Knuts of the Retarded Table leading us from tablets. Take care.

I too am happy now but was not on December 3. I have seen the way things have gone the last few years but just did not feel like leaving thus it was better that the decision was made for me, as betrayed as I felt. The package was nice, the weather is tolerable, so I will settle in, sit back, and watch Merck implode even more. My 401K is not in the stock any more so I can afford to watch Merck crash and burn like it has the last week. Sorry to hear about the meeting but meetings are no longer about us, it is about them. And "them" don't get it.

 

[Anonymous]

I hope you are finding life after Merck much more rewarding. During our national meeting when we went over Zosta training, the former pc reps who have been selling it for 3 years were still confused over all of the reimbursement scenarios. It was hystercial. There is no clear path to vaccinate the potential 50 plus million seniors. Too many variables (primary/secondary insurance, medicare) and the patient, doc or pharmacies don't want to deal with the bullsh!t. You are absolutely right about selling the whole portfolio to multi-specialty offices. However trying to sell our full portfolio is seeking the holy grail and we have the Knuts of the Retarded Table leading us from tablets. Take care.

Yeah, it is messed up the way they cannot even produce the vaccine. Seriously, it has been on the DL more than it has been off. Has anyone actually sold it for a full 12 month period? Tablet folks leading the vaccine division has been a disaster that still has not been righted. Morale remains low and some folks leave just to get away. When we had the previous layoffs, some friends left for other work even though their jobs were safe and they were top performers. That tells you something. Good luck to those MVD folks still here and even more to those that were forced to leave. The latter group is better off I think.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, it is messed up the way they cannot even produce the vaccine. Seriously, it has been on the DL more than it has been off. Has anyone actually sold it for a full 12 month period? Tablet folks leading the vaccine division has been a disaster that still has not been righted. Morale remains low and some folks leave just to get away. When we had the previous layoffs, some friends left for other work even though their jobs were safe and they were top performers. That tells you something. Good luck to those MVD folks still here and even more to those that were forced to leave. The latter group is better off I think.

I left on my on will a year ago- Best decision ever!
I still have horrific nightmares about selling vaccines that can't be sold in the pc world.
Selling vaccines can really screw up one's self confidence after awhile-

 

[Anonymous]

I left on my on will a year ago- Best decision ever!
I still have horrific nightmares about selling vaccines that can't be sold in the pc world.
Selling vaccines can really screw up one's self confidence after awhile-

It was great and fun when it was MVD. Once it was taken over and became MVID, it went down like the Titanic. "New" management insisted on selling vaccines like tablets. Metrics came over here, and other things of that nature. They still do not understand that PC is a dead and foul-smelling fish yet they insist on increasing sales where the customer resists to the death. I will leave soon but not soon enough. Evaluating options right now. MVD was a great place to be. As you know, Merck's Vaccine side is no longer fun or well-run. Wonder why? LMAO

 

[Anonymous]

I left on my on will a year ago- Best decision ever!
I still have horrific nightmares about selling vaccines that can't be sold in the pc world.
Selling vaccines can really screw up one's self confidence after awhile-

It does not help when the blind lead the blind. The best to you. Many of us are still here and watching the division rot.