Vaccines are seatbelts, not armor

Hello,

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

• We got a reminder that "vaccines, they're not magic";
• The 24 biotech startups top VCs say are poised to take off;
• Check out the presentation Yelp for holistic-care startup Kensho used to raise its seed round.

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

Rethinking our relationships to COVID-19 vaccines

Before we jump in, I wanted to check and ask - how are y'all feeling? It's been such a roller coaster of relief with the mask guidance in May and then dread as cases started to rise again followed by last week's latest mask guidance.

Let me know what your biggest confusions are these days, if there are big decisions you're not sure how to make just now, and how you're managing any COVID anxiety. Find me at lramsey@insider.com.

Beyond the Delta variant's surge here in the US, we're hearing more about other variants, including Delta Plus, a version of Delta with an extra mutation.

While the 'Delta Plus' variant has spread to nearly 30 countries, low case numbers are a sign it won't overtake Delta, my colleague Aria Bendix reports.

Meanwhile, Moderna said on Thursday that it's expecting we'll need booster shots this fall. At about eight months, the company said, protection starts to drop.

It's a handy reminder that vaccines aren't perfect or magic, as much as we might like them to be.

One of my favorite reads this week was from my colleagues Hilary Brueck and Andrea Michelson.

In an analysis, they made the case for why you should start thinking of vaccines like you might a seatbelt - rather than as a suit of armor.

Much like riding in a car with your seatbelt on, now's not the time for us to take our eyes off the road.

Read the analysis>>

Think of your COVID-19 vaccine as a seatbelt, not impenetrable armor

The biotech startups set to take off

Biotech can be such a crowded field, it's often difficult to make sense of which startups will be making news within the next year.

So, Andrew Dunn and Allison DeAngelis went out and surveyed top biotech VCs about which startups they expect will take off in the next 12 months.

It has me looking back on the same list we did a year ago. So many companies from that list have gone public, gotten acquired, or are otherwise making strides.

One theme that emerged in this year's list: Startups focused on manufacturing - a long overlooked part of drugmaking - are primed to explode after the pandemic exposed the importance of production power.

Find out which of those manufacturing startups VCs are betting on and more here.

Get the exclusive list>>

Meet the 24 biotech startups that top VCs say are poised to take off in the next 12 months

More stories that kept us busy this week:

• We got a look at the presentation a burned-out tech employee used to raise $3.5 million for her quest to create the Yelp for holistic healthcare.
• We explored the promise of video games in treating health conditions - if doctors can be convinced to use them.
• My colleague Avery Hartmans explains why it's not a HIPAA violation for businesses to ask for proof of vaccination.
• Yeji Jesse Lee asked VCs to name the hottest startups in psychedelics, including ones developing drugs, as well as upstarts building tech and clinics.

- Lydia