On Tuesday, Walgreens unveiled The Walgreens COVID-19 Pulse Check, a quantitative study commissioned by the healthcare retailer, which surveyed over 1,000 senior adults 55 and older in the U.S. about their feelings on socializing after the pandemic. As society moves past the impacts of this pandemic, the reality for many of the nation’s 41+ million seniors is that they still feel concerned about getting sick. The survey reveals that an estimated 17 million (42%) of seniors agreed they are less socially active now than they were before the pandemic. Additionally, an estimated 8.2 million (20%) of seniors feel lonelier now than before the pandemic. The research also reveals that seniors are missing activities they enjoyed pre-pandemic due to COVID-19 exposure anxiety, which is still prevalent in the senior community:

• 60% are worried about seeing friends regularly and attending family gatherings

• 36% miss going on vacation

• 28% miss going shopping or running errands

• 19% miss being connected to their local community

• 15% miss the independence of doing things for themselves, like shopping

This feeling of concern around socialization increases for the Black senior community 55 and older with nearly 4 in 10 (39%) of these seniors reporting feeling socially isolated, 13 percentage points higher than the total population of 55 and older. In addition, over 4 in 10 (43%) seniors in the Black community reported they are limiting what they do and where they go in fear of catching COVID-19 –16 percentage points higher than the total population of 55 and older. To find out more about the work Walgreens is doing to support the senior communities or to learn more about the study, visit Walgeens.com.