OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — A summer that began with plunging caseloads and real hope that the worst of Covid-19 had passed is ending with soaring death counts, full hospitals and a bitter realization that the coronavirus is going to remain a fact of American life for the foreseeable future.

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accination rates are ticking upward, and reports of new infections are starting to fall in some hard-hit Southern states. But Labor Day weekend bears little resemblance to Memorial Day, when the country was averaging fewer than 25,000 cases daily, or to the Fourth of July, when President Biden spoke about nearing independence from the virus.

Why We Can’t Turn the Corner on Covid After a hot vax summer that wasn’t, it’s clearer than ever that there will be no easy end to the pandemic. Joanne Kenen POLITICO

The summer of 2021 began with such promise. On Memorial Day, the traditional start of summer, many Americans thought that the worst of Covid might be over, that masks were out and hugs (or more) might be in. But that optimism has yielded to a more somber and uncertain Labor Day as hot vax summer turned into hot spot autumn.

First responders nationwide resist COVID vaccine mandates March 11, 2021. It was supposed to be a turning point in the coronavirus pandemic for Erin Tokley, a longtime Philadelphia police officer, Baptist minister and 47-year-old father of three. It was supposed to be the day of his vaccine appointment. AP NEWS

...The resurgence of COVID-19 this summer and the national debate over vaccine requirements have created a fraught situation for the nation’s first responders, who are dying in larger numbers but pushing back against mandates. ...

Hospitals in crisis in least vaccinated state: Mississippi JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — As patients stream into Mississippi hospitals one after another, doctors and nurses have become all too accustomed to the rampant denial and misinformation about COVID-19 in the nation's least vaccinated state. AP NEWS

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EU and AstraZeneca settle vaccine supply dispute - France 24 EU and AstraZeneca settle vaccine supply dispute France 24

The European Union and UK-based drugs giant AstraZeneca settled their dispute over a shortfall in coronavirus vaccine supplies on Friday, agreeing an extended delivery schedule.

The European Commission went to court after the firm failed to deliver all of a promised 300 million doses by June 2021, but AstraZeneca will now have until the end of March next year to make up the number.