The Summer of Delta

<p>This summer was supposed to be, in the words of President Biden, the “summer of freedom” from the coronavirus. What we saw instead was the summer of the Delta variant.</p><p>The surge driven by Delta — which has seen rises in cases, hospitalizations and deaths across the United States — has underlined that we are far from being done with the pandemic.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/apoorva-mandavilli?smid=pc-thedaily">Apoorva Mandavilli</a>, a science and global health reporter for The New York Times.</p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/signup/NTTD?smid=pc-thedaily">Sign up here</a> to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/the-daily?module=inline">subscribe to our newsletter</a>. </p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>The Delta variant retreated unexpectedly in Britain and India but has begun to rebound. The United States<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/health/covid-delta-us-britain.html"> may take an even bumpier path</a>, according to scientists.</li><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/21/science/covid-vaccine-booster-third-shot.html">Here’s what we know about booster shots</a> — why Americans may need them and when they should get them.</li></ul><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.</p>