The shift in accepting behavioral health science; COVID vaccination efficacy and herd immunity

Invent Health with Dr. Archana Dubey and Bambi Francisco Roizen; Episode 4

The Invent Health weekly podcast with Dr. Archana Dubey and Bambi Francisco Roizen is the only weekly podcast that breaks down the latest digital health news of the week and what it means for patients, providers and payers (or who's paying). Plus a deep dive on a particular topic to help listeners understand how innovation is changing the healthcare paradigm.

This week they discuss: Virta raises $133 million and gets $2 billion market valuation; What's behind the boom in behavioral health companies focused not just on mental health but chronic conditions. Accolade buys PlushCare for $450 million. What's the boom behind consolidation between primary care companies, which address or handle about roughly 20 percent of healthcare costs, and secondary care organizations (specialists who care for more serious conditions). They also talk about the mask relaxing policies! Plus this week's deep dive is around the COVID vaccines. 138 million people in the US, or nearly 42 percent of the population, have received at least one dose of a vaccine. Just over 93 million people are fully vaccinated, accounting for 28 percent of the U.S. population. (Up from 15% fully vaccinated March 29, 2021), according to CDC  https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations - Nearly 32 million people have been infected, they have natural immunity --  that’s another 10% of the population. There are some 3 million daily vaccinations (slowing down) given with 60k daily new cases showing up. Are we already at herd immunity? Some physicians already believe so. Should kids get vaccinated? No. Studies show the flu results in more hospitalizations and deaths and the risk of kids transmitting COVID is very low.