One week after supermarket chain Giant Food LLC announced it would offer free antibiotic prescriptions to its customers, rival Wegmans Food Markets Inc. says it is doing the same.

Wegmans' spokeswoman Jo Natale says the program has been in the works for weeks and called the timing of the announcements coincidental. She says the Wegmans program was not a direct reaction to Giant's program.

Rochester, New York-based Wegmans will fill prescriptions for nine types of drugs through March 31. The Giant program ends March 21.

Wegmans has 72 stores, including five in Virginia and Maryland. Giant is the largest supermarket chain in the Washington, D.C., region with 182 stores and more than 160 in-store pharmacies.