CONTACT: Frank Fortin
202.223.7189; ffortin@aphanet.org

WASHINGTON, DC – Statement of Scott J. Knoer, executive vice president and CEO of the American Pharmacists Association:

“President-Elect Biden’s plan to address COVID-19 is a strong start to rescue the country from the pandemic. It not only allocates billions of dollars to launch a sweeping national plan for vaccination and testing, it also invests in public health workers for outreach and contact tracing, addresses health disparities, protects residents of long term care facilities and workers in essential industries, and proposes billions for the administration of the vaccines.

“The incoming administration has stated that this is a race against time – and we agree. It is essential that this plan builds on utilizing the army of ready, willing and able pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy interns in all practice settings to accelerate the vaccination of all Americans. Approximately 400,000 pharmacy personnel have been trained for precisely this moment – and now is the time to mobilize them.

“We look forward to working with President-Elect Biden and his administration to maximize the use of pharmacists to defeat the pandemic, and to immunize and improve the health of our nation’s most vulnerable populations.”