Asedas, the employers of supermarket chains such as Mercadona, Dia or Salvamás, among others, wants to make an offer to speed up the process of vaccinating its workers against the coronavirus.
According to its general director, Ignacio García Magarzo, “the ideal thing would be for any company to be able to use its prevention services and the mutual insurance companies or contracted insurance companies to speed up the process”, insisting in this sense that “supermarket chains, as a service essential, we are willing to do so”, thus confirming a news item advanced by OK Diario.
immediate disposition
Although the association has not yet submitted an offer in this regard to the health authorities, García Magarzo explains that the sector is willing “to facilitate the process in whatever way is necessary”, as long as they have the necessary vaccines for it.
The Spanish trade sector has a powerful logistics network and also has great capillarity. In total, there are nearly 400 logistics platforms distributed evenly throughout the country, allowing it to supply a network of food establishments made up of more than 24,300 stores including supermarkets and hypermarkets and 30,000 traditional stores.
The companies grouped in Asedas, which represent 80% of the organized distribution stores, throughout the pandemic to guarantee the supply of the population.
essential paper
In fact, Asedas has claimed in recent months the “essential” role that the sector has played, recalling that both food, in general, and food distribution, in particular, must be considered, “now and always, as sectors essential for Spanish society, something that becomes more relevant as it has contributed to ensuring the well-being of citizens during the months of confinement due to the coronavirus”.
The consideration of food as an essential sector last March allowed the companies that are part of the chain to act “quickly, efficiently and safely” to supply the population without limitations for the purposes of transport, infrastructure operation or opening of establishments.
In this same sense, the sector has played a prominent role in the distribution of masks and other protective materials, such as gloves.
Although in this case, however, the Government’s decision to lower only VAT on surgical masks, which are mostly sold in pharmacies, generated deep discomfort. For supermarkets, it was a measure that has generated unfair competition since while in this case the tax drops from 21 to 4%, distribution still has to sell them at the same tax rate.
Masks
García Magarzo recalls that “after the outbreak of the pandemic, the Government asked us to introduce hygienic masks on supermarket shelves, also stating publicly that this was the model that had to be used to avoid shortages of the rest among health personnel. The surprise came when only the VAT of the others was lowered.
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