Covetrus: Working to help flatten the curve

Veterinary Advantage reached out to Covetrus about how the company is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, both internally and in its work with veterinary clinics. Here are the company’s responses:

Veterinary Advantage: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your business operations?

Covetrus: Early on we implemented workplace regulations and guidelines from government and public health authorities related to COVID-19. This included frequent washing of hands, daily disinfecting of workspaces, and limiting non-essential travel. For employees who recently traveled to affected areas, a two-week quarantine was required prior to returning to work. In our pharmacies, it has also been standard practice for all of our pharmacies to strictly comply with USP regulations on the use and application of personal protective equipment by all staff.

About two-weeks ago we transitioned a good number of our teams to working remotely and implemented staggered schedules in our distribution facilities.

Earlier this week, we shared that Covetrus is seeing strong demand in its prescription management and online pharmacy services, adding to the momentum this business had coming out of 2019. The acceleration is linked to increased practice engagement and pet owner demand as COVID-19 spreads across the United States. Additionally, we have seen a recent spike in inquiries and enrollments from practices looking to set up their own prescription management and online store. You can read more about this in the press release .

Veterinary Advantage: What product categories are being most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?

Covetrus: Covetrus is experiencing some delays from product manufactured in China and product utilized to combat COVID-19. Through it all, we continue to partner with our suppliers to prioritize manufacturing to best meet market needs.

Veterinary Advantage: How are you working with veterinary practices to make sure they have an adequate supply?

Covetrus: Since January our sourcing teams have been closely following the outbreak and spread of COVID-19 in order to minimize potential impacts to our supply chain by seeking alternate and different supply options where they are available.

Veterinary Advantage: How are you working with veterinary practices on effective infection prevention overall?

Covetrus: We have created resources for veterinary practices; everything from webinars to template letters for client communications to educate pet owners. All of these resources can be accessed online here. This resource page gets updated frequently.

Most recently we created a four-legged inspired public-health video to communicate some of the guidelines provided by public health agencies. Here is a link to the video.