September 8, 2021

The United States passes 40 million recorded infections since the pandemic began, roughly 12 cases for every 100 residents. Fauci says packing football stadiums is not “smart,” and reports of a 15-year-old Florida girl’s death circulate widely, keeping the focus on risk to children even as hospitalized kids remained a small share of the surge.

The moralizing sharpens. Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel suggests hospitals should prioritize the vaccinated and turn away unvaccinated patients who took ivermectin, a joke that treats denying care as a reasonable punchline. The Washington Post and USA Today amplify it, and the day’s fact-checks pivot to debunking ivermectin memes rather than examining why so many people distrust the official line.

The Atlantic reports that the ACLU, historically wary of state coercion, now argues vaccine mandates protect freedom rather than restrict it. Politico separately runs a piece insisting the Supreme Court precedent for mandates is strong. Both land days before Biden’s sweeping mandate announcement, softening the ground for measures whose legal footing critics considered far shakier.