Guest post from Evan Kesten, Ranger Ready’s Director of Sales for Travel Health & Wellness, father of two young girls, and soon-to-be-dog owner.
I’m down to my last 2 pills of my medication and no refills. I called my doctor and was immediately sent to a recording: “Due to COVID-19…”
After an hour on hold, I hang up because my two-year-old is making it impossible for my wife to teach my 5-year-old. What was I thinking? How am I going to get a prescription written during COVID? More importantly, why isn’t the pharmacist allowed to help?
Measure the distance between any two individuals and you will find the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis. The closer we get, the more in the line of fire we are.
The need for pharmacies during this pandemic is obvious, but the front-line exposure faced by every employee in the pharmacy often goes unappreciated. Precaution is mandatory – and hard – and every interaction is a risk.
Yet millions of Americans continue to go to pharmacies every day. For many, the local pharmacist will be the only medical professional seen over the next few months. As such, some pharmacies have resorted to Drive-Thru-Only and/or curbside pick-up options, which definitely reduces foot-traffic in the store, but even those options do not completely remove the risk.
Despite the increased likelihood of contracting the illness, pharmacists are still asking to do more. In their Six-Point Plan for Empowering Pharmacists in Response to COVID-19, the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York (my home state) is literally asking to test the symptomatic, and more, like dispensing medication when doctors are unavailable to write prescriptions (yes, please!).
Like our pharmacy partners, Ranger Ready is stepping up to do more as well. As of March, Ranger Ready’s mission of saving lives from serious diseases caused by ticks, mosquitos, and biting insects is expanding. With the introduction of our FDA-registered Hand Sanitizer, our mission will now include those diseases spread via human-to-human transmission.
For two years, Ranger Ready has worked alongside pharmacists to stem the spread of vector-borne illnesses. We’ve spoken with thousands of pharmacists who now offer a safe and effective mosquito and tick repellent to customers looking for Picaridin, a great alternative to DEET. We know our collective effort to reduce the spread is working, and I know we can partner again to protect against COVID-19.
So, to our many pharmacy retail partners, we want to say, “Thank You,” during this time of need. Your bravery is not unnoticed, and since you’re up for the fight against tick-and-mosquito born illness, we know you’re up for the response against COVID-19.
Stay Safe and Stay Well.