By Natalie Anderson
natalie.anderson@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — As products like hand sanitizer and its ingredients have become scarce during the COVID-19 pandemic, two local businesses have partnered to use their resources and expertise to provide frontline workers with a pocket-sized “first line of defense.”

Moose Pharmacy worked with Southern Grace Distillery in Mount Pleasant to make hand sanitizer for frontline workers during the COVID-19 outbreak. On Wednesday, Moose Pharmacy joined with the Kiwanis Club of Salisbury to distribute free bottles of the hand sanitizer in the parking lot of the Salisbury pharmacy location at 1408 W Innes St. The drive-thru pickup was encouraged for frontline workers, such as day care and health care workers as well as police officers, first responders and even other pharmacists.

“We’re local people trying to come up with ways to serve our local community,” said Moose Pharmacy owner Joe Moose.

To make the sanitizer, Moose said Southern Grace provided the pharmacy with a 55-gallon barrel of alcohol. The clear, ethyl alcohol was mixed with glycerin and high-strength hydrogen peroxide to create an 80% solution, which has a faster “kill time” than the average hand sanitizer found at the store.

Using one gallon of the clear, ethyl alcohol takes up to 45 minutes to mix, bottle and label for the pocket-sized hand sanitizer.

Moose said making the solution in the Concord compounding lab allows employees to continue working and have work to do as business has slowed due to a decline in doctor visits.

Moose Pharmacy has locations in Salisbury, Concord, Mount Pleasant, Kannapolis, Monroe, Mount Holly and Locust.

Moose said he’s seen “some good human characters coming out during this time,” noting the “social service network” that has resulted from the pandemic. For example, the pharmacy and local food banks have stayed in contact to ensure frontline workers are aware of all resources available to them.

Moose encourages people to keep up with the Moose Pharmacy Facebook page to stay informed on “what parking lot will be next.” While he’s seen an average of 200 people at each Moose Pharmacy location, Salisbury is among the largest cities in which they operate. Thus, he estimated that he’d seen up to 500 people on Wednesday.