Smaller pharmacies have proven to be more nimble than big chains during the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Institute for Local Self-Reliance says.
In an opinion piece published in the Washington Post under the headline, Small pharmacies beat big chains at delivering vaccines. Don’t look so shocked, the Institute’s Stacy Mitchell says that “so ingrained is this ideology of bigness that we routinely overlook evidence to the contrary.
“The fact is, independent pharmacies have been out-performing their larger rivals all along.
“According to research by Consumer Reports, for instance, local pharmacies generally offer lower prices than the chains.
“The two cheapest sources for prescription drugs, the non-profit magazine found, were the online firm HealthWarehouse.com and Costco, but independents came in third — with average prices that beat Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS/Target by a wide margin.”
The article goes on to point out that independent pharmacies achieve superior results not despite being small, but because they are small.
“It’s their local ownership that makes the difference,” it says.
“Their decisions are guided not by the prerogatives of Wall Street but by the healthcare needs of their neighbours.
“Lacking top-heavy bureaucracy and rich with local knowledge and relationships, independent pharmacies possess what you might call economies of small scale.”
The Institute for Self-Reliance is a US research and advocacy organisation that partners with allies to build an American economy driven by local priorities and accountable to people and the planet.
“Local self-reliance means that people are able to exercise power over our lives: how we provide for our families, how resources are shared and allocated in our communities, and how decisions made by government, corporations and business affect all of us,” it says.
The full article can be accessed via the institute’s website or the Washington Post Washington Post.
