Joe Biden provided validation of community pharmacy’s ongoing evolution in his State of the Union address at the beginning of the month. Speaking before a joint session of Congress, the president unveiled plans to increase the industry’s already formidable role in the ongoing quest to end the COVID pandemic. “We’re launching the Test to Treat initiative so people can get tested at a pharmacy,” he said, “and if they’re positive, receive antiviral pills on the spot at no cost.”

By emphasizing convenience, the program, part of the administration’s new National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan, aims to reduce barriers and encourage people who think they might be infected with the virus to seek help. “To ensure these life-saving treatments are easily accessible, the president’s plan … provide[s] individuals access to testing and treatment for free, all in one stop,” explained Jeff Zients, White House Coronavirus Response coordinator. “Hundreds of one-stop sites will open across the country this month, located at local pharmacy clinics, community health centers, long-term care facilities and veterans’ health centers.”

The policy leverages the industry’s inherent strengths. With a retail pharmacy located within five miles of more than 90% of the U.S. population (long a talking point of industry advocates that was adopted by the president and members of his administration during the pandemic), patients can obtain testing and treatment at in-store clinics in the neighborhoods where they live and work. Situating COVID-related services in pharmacies has the added benefit of enabling people to receive care in a setting they know and trust. Pharmacists have ranked near the top among all professions for honesty and ethics in Gallup polling for many years running.

Those factors will accelerate the pace of diagnosis and treatment, thus increasing the likelihood of a COVID patient avoiding serious complications, hospitalization and death. The faster an individual begins taking an antiviral medication, the better the odds. As Biden noted, “We’re also ready with antiviral treatments. If you get COVID-19, the Pfizer pill reduces your chances of ending up in the hospital by 90%. We’ve ordered more of these pills than anyone in the world. And Pfizer is working overtime to get us 1 million pills this month and more than double that next month.”

Another benefit of the program is cost. A visit to a pharmacy-based clinic is significantly less expensive than going to the physician’s office or emergency room. Improved access and cost savings, without compromising quality of care, are good for everyone.

Biden’s Test to Treat initiative builds on retail pharmacy’s previous contributions to the nation’s pandemic response. Almost from the beginning, pharmacy operators answered the federal government’s call to facilitate COVID testing, adapting many of their parking lots and stores to handle the demand.

Even more important, as soon as vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 were made available to the industry, it quickly established itself as the preferred channel for people who wanted to be immunized. The 21 companies that participate in the Federal Retail Pharmacy program had administered more than 229 million doses, including 8 million at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, as of February 9, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The work that community pharmacy has willingly taken on during the pandemic is in keeping with the development of the business. Across the industry stores are currently being transformed from prescription drug dispensaries to true neighborhood health care centers. CVS Health and Walgreens Boots Alliance are stepping up the rollout of physician-delivered services at many locations. In addition to primary care, Walmart Health outlets offer dental, vision and hearing services. And Kroger, Hy-Vee and other supermarket chains are emphasizing the link between good nutrition and good health.

It wasn’t all that many years ago when retail pharmacies were not allowed to vaccinate patients for flu or other conditions. Experience has demonstrated the value — in terms of both health outcomes and economics — of the industry’s engagement in immunizations, a lesson reinforced and amplified by the war on COVID. Pharmacy advocates should seize the moment to lock in the broader vision of the profession embraced by the Biden administration, encourage the expansion of Test to Treat to include more pharmacies and empower pharmacists to act in that capacity, and realize the full potential of what’s still an under­u­ti­lized resource.