NACDS launched its “Rise” ad on April 2. We pledged that NACDS members would be there for America during the pandemic – lights on, doors open – just as in prior emergencies.

Steven Anderson

That ad rings as true today as it did when we launched it. For that, the amazing heroes of this industry – and many other heroes as well – deserve tremendous appreciation.

Looking back over the course of the year, this industry has kept its promise to “be there.” NACDS members have:

• helped to pioneer and consistently expand COVID-19 testing programs – under extremely difficult and rapidly evolving circumstances;
• kept patients on their crucial medication therapies;
• provided health and wellness insights and services when the pandemic severely limited access to other healthcare destinations;
• fostered special attention to the medically underserved, to those suffering from healthcare disparities, and to those disadvantaged by social determinants of health; and
• maintained consumers’ access to needed products of all kinds.

NACDS members have continued to serve as the face of neighborhood healthcare – as these and many other examples prove.

Now, NACDS members’ teams – in national and regional chains, and in traditional drug, grocery and mass formats – are pouring themselves into the Herculean preparation, adaptation and execution that the COVID-19 vaccination initiative demands.

The countless hours, energy and resources expended on this work are matched only by the hopes pinned on it by Americans who aspire to overcome this pandemic and to restore what we hold most dear. Few people know what this work entails, but all are counting on it.

When together we launched the “Rise” ad on April 2, nobody knew exactly the requirements of living up to the promise to be there yet again for America during the greatest public health threat of the past century. Yet, through it all, NACDS members have fired up their resolve and have found a way.