3 ways Dollar General could upend the healthcare industry

Hello,

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

• 3 ways Dollar General could upend the healthcare industry, according to experts;
• One chart shows the most common COVID-19 symptoms based on your vaccination status;
• Experts say there's no evidence the Lambda variant is worse than Delta.

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...

Dollar General hired a key health executive, but that's just the start. Here are 3 ways the discount chain could upend the $3.8 trillion healthcare industry.

• Dollar General is a low-cost retailer with 17,000 stores, mainly in rural communities.
• In July, it hired former McKinsey consultant Dr. Albert Wu to be its first chief medical officer.
• Analysts and experts laid out three strategies the chain could pursue in healthcare delivery.

Find out how>>

The 5 most common COVID-19 symptoms based on your vaccination status, in one chart

• COVID-19 symptoms look somewhat different for vaccinated people who get breakthrough cases and unvaccinated people, a study found.
• Unvaccinated people are more likely to report a fever and persistent cough.
• They're also more likely to get severely sick and reported more symptoms in total.

See the full chart>>

The Lambda variant is dominating Peru, but experts say there's no evidence it's worse than Delta

• The Lambda variant is one of the latest to raise concern in the public health community.
• A preprint study suggested the variant's mutation could help it evade antibodies and spread quickly.
• One researcher said it's not perfectly clear yet: Lambda cases are decreasing in some places, while increasing in others.

Here's what you need to know>>

More stories we're reading:

• Half of Americans are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (Insider)
• Inside Flare Capital's Bill Geary life as he invested in health-tech during a pandemic from Nantucket (Bloomberg)
• Novavax delayed its timeline again to submit its COVID-19 vaccine for US authorization, raising further doubts about its domestic launch (Insider)
• JPMorgan's Morgan Health invested in primary-care startup Vera Whole Health (CNBC)

- Lydia