Amazon is considering building physical pharmacies

Hello,

Welcome to Insider Healthcare. I'm Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer, and today in healthcare news:

• Amazon is considering building physical pharmacies, Insider first reported;
• Meet the under-the-radar primary care companies that have won over Wall Street;
• It's too convenient to blame outbreaks on variants, experts say.

If you're new to this newsletter, sign up here. Comments, tips? Email me at lramsey@insider.com or tweet @lydiaramsey125. Let's get to it...

Amazon is weighing a push into physical pharmacies to grab a bigger slice of the $370 billion prescription market

• Amazon is considering the launch of physical pharmacies, Insider has learned.
• Amazon Pharmacy's leaders have discussed using Whole Foods locations and creating stand-alone sites.
• There is not a concrete plan to do so, three people familiar with the matter said.

Blake Dodge has the full scoop here>>

Why Wall Street is betting on a couple of under-the-radar companies that want to transform how primary-care practices get paid

• The US is shifting to "value-based care," in which doctors are paid to keep patients healthy.
• Newly public companies Agilon and Privia are helping doctors navigate that transformation.
• Wall Street is betting on these firms, which can expand faster than those that build clinics.

Find the full story here>>

Experts say it's too convenient for politicians to blame COVID-19 outbreaks on variants - we have the tools to fight them, we just need to use them

• The B.1.617 variant first tracked in India was labeled a "variant of concern" by the WHO.
• It appears to be more infectious than older versions of the coronavirus.
• But that doesn't mean we are powerless.

There is a lot of reason to hope vaccines will defeat variants>>

More stories we're reading:

• Hospitals serving rural black communities shut down during the pandemic (Stat News)
• Biden sets 90-day deadline for more details on coronavirus origins (Insider)
• Google Cloud struck a massive deal with HCA Healthcare (The Wall Street Journal)
• Scientists partially restored a blind man's vision using gene therapy and goggles (Insider)

- Lydia