The course of this pandemic has changed what it means to be a frontline healthcare worker. While pharmacies were often seen as a middleman between the patient and the doctor, their role in healthcare has drastically increased because of COVID-19. Because of the pandemic, many states now allow pharmacy technicians to give vaccinations and many pharmacies now offer drive by testing for COVID-19. 

Despite the constant exposure pharmacy staff has to this virus, the top three commercial pharmacies (CVS, Walgreens, and Kroger) have not implemented hazard pay, including for the healthcare professionals who are actively in contact with the virus.

CVS and Walgreens start paying their pharmacy technicians at $15/hr while Kroger starts at $13/hr. Many of these individuals rely on their technician positions as their primary source of income and cannot afford to get sick. This is complicated by an on going pandemic caused by a highly contagious virus.

Hazard pay would ensure that our frontline workers are able to keep themselves safe and secure while directly interacting with those who are infected with COVID-19. In addition this would ensure that the individuals responsible for essential pharmacy duties get paid enough to afford an apartment, groceries, health insurance, and all other essential needs. Hazard pay would also ensure that is part of the pharmacy staff got infected with COVID-19 that they wouldn’t have to worry about their financial situation.

While the average minimum living wages across the United States is $32.54/hr, the proposal for hazard pay would be to raise the wages of all pharmacy workers to $27/hr, which would match what minimum wage should be when accounting for inflation.