Thank you to America’s pharmacy teams for helping to make 2021’s July 4th celebrations just that – true celebrations!
Through their leadership in the COVID vaccination initiative, the people of pharmacy are helping families and friends pick up where they left off. Bands in this year’s parades will find new spring in their steps. And fireworks grand finales will symbolize new beginnings.
I want to express appreciation to all pharmacy teams for their specific role in helping our nation truly savor our freedom and independence this year.
Pharmacies are proving essential in getting shots to arms.
As we head into July 4, Federal Retail Pharmacy Program (FRPP) participants alone have provided more than 94 million shots to arms. Pharmacies serving their communities through state programs are contributing mightily, too, and their tallies would escalate this figure significantly.
In mid-June, the Biden Administration indicated that pharmacies in the FRPP alone had provided more than one-quarter of all doses that had been given, and about half of those provided in recent weeks after many mass clinics closed.
The preparation, investment and dedication that have earned these results cannot be overstated. Throughout the vaccination effort, pharmacies have stepped up to specific challenges that have been important at particular times. These include serving seniors in nursing homes, prioritizing healthcare workers, and shifting on the fly to prioritize teachers to help get children back to school. Currently, many pharmacies are offering extended hours for walk-in, no-appointment vaccinations.
Beyond quantity, pharmacies focus on vaccine equity and confidence.
Pharmacies share the Biden Administration’s priority focus on equitable vaccinations – and on a comprehensive focus on health equity. Helping to reach all Americans and meeting people where they are remain at the core of pharmacies’ response to COVID.
The Administration notes that more than 40 percent of pharmacies in the FRPP serve in high-risk zip codes, and that pharmacies in the FRPP have conducted more than 8,000 pop-up vaccination clinics to help reach priority patient groups.
Pharmacies are honored to contribute to the fact, as stated by the Administration, that Black Americans and people of color have accounted for 54 percent of vaccinations across the country over the past month – contrasted with these individuals’ makeup of 40 percent of the U.S. population.
Throughout the vaccination initiative, pharmacies have brought an extremely intentional approach to reaching diverse populations, the medically underserved, the socially vulnerable, seniors, and areas at greater risk due to prevalence of chronic conditions.
In addition to focusing on getting shots to arms efficiently and equitably pharmacies and their teams play a major role in helping to boost vaccine confidence. That was the point of an op-ed published in Morning Consult and authored by NACDS Chair Colleen Lindholz, president of Kroger Health, and NACDS Vice Chair Brian Nightengale, president of Good Neighbor Pharmacy. As the NACDS leadership put it, “For COVID vaccines, pharmacists reach arms – and minds.”
Pharmacies resolved to meet ongoing challenges – Delta variant and beyond.
Amid the appropriate – and much-needed – celebrations this Independence Day, we must maintain the realization that much work remains. As has been the case throughout the pandemic, ongoing hard work will take place against the continued backdrop of uncertainty. We do not have complete knowledge of how the COVID-19 variant known as “Delta” and other variants will play out. This fall, the emergence of flu season may complicate matters.
We know that the vaccination effort must continue – for COVID, for flu, and for “catch ups” on vaccinations that many have foregone during the public health crisis. The focus on vaccine equity and on confidence must continue.
In addition, the lessons of COVID related to healthcare disparities need to drive further change and progress in meeting people where they are. With their trust and accessibility five miles from 90 percent of Americans, pharmacies should continue to be leveraged to help reach all Americans with an array of health and wellness services that can make a tremendous difference in managing chronic conditions.
We look forward to continuing to be an important part of the discussions and the actions necessary to advance health equity based on the lessons learned from COVID.
