NACDS digital content highlights role pharmacies, pharmacists play in emergencies

As part of an ongoing effort to demonstrate pharmacies’ continued and vital role in serving the American public — and in driving the future of total health and wellness — the National Association of Chain Drug Stores is releasing a series of digital content that illustrates the unique value of pharmacy.

Since the earliest days of the COVID pandemic, pharmacies and pharmacy teams have worked with dedication, experience and expertise to meet patients’ day-to-day needs and to deliver equitable access to COVID testing, vaccination and therapeutics, NACDS said.

The organization noted that pharmacists and pharmacy staff have administered more than 254 million COVID vaccinations to date. Approximately two of every three COVID vaccine doses are provided at a pharmacy, and 70% of pharmacy testing sites are located in areas of moderate to severe vulnerability, NACDS said.

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The group stated that pharmacies’ access and equity have helped place them at the center of the ongoing COVID pandemic response — and their role in delivering critical health-and-wellness needs to the American public started well before the onset of COVID. “Now, as the nation emerges from the pandemic, pharmacies stand ready to continue serving patients — in the pharmacy, in food offerings, throughout the total store and beyond,” NACDS said.

“Throughout the COVID pandemic, pharmacy’s story has only strengthened,” said NACDS president and CEO Steve Anderson. “Pharmacies have proven again that they have a tremendous role to play in healthcare delivery, and in providing consumer-empowered, total health-and-wellness solutions to communities nationwide. As we look to the future, it is critical that Americans maintain seamless access to the pharmacist services they have grown to rely on and expect.”

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Anderson also noted that this new campaign is a tribute to the heroic efforts of “our industry and team members, on behalf of the American people, and will showcase the broad and powerful impact of pharmacies as the true ‘face of neighborhood health care’ — before, during and beyond the pandemic.”

For more information on the the campaign, click here.