After 1,284 days, I’m only just recovering from the coronavirus but there’s no vaccine for the likes of me

Covid cases are rising, new variants are spreading ; there is a horrible sense of deja vu. Only this time there are no vaccines on the horizon for the majority of the population.

This is especially concerning for long Covid patients, who have never been eligible for early access to vaccines or additional boosters. Yet a study has shown that 60% of recovered long Covid patients will see a recurrence of symptoms if reinfected; another suggested that the condition can have a more damaging impact on quality of life than stage 4 lung cancer.

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Revisions to figures show stronger performance than Germany and France but momentum starts to stall

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The UK economy made a faster recovery from the Covid pandemic than previously estimated, according to revisions to official figures revealing a stronger performance than Germany and France.

In a boost for Rishi Sunak before the Conservative party conference in Manchester beginning this weekend, revised figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed gross domestic product was 1.8% above pre-pandemic levels at the end of the second quarter this year.

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They are issues of great interest to Europeans, but cannot be fully understood through a single national lens. The climate crisis, geopolitics, people trafficking, economic insecurity – the biggest challenges are not limited by national borders. Which is why, this September, the Guardian is launching Guardian Europe – a dedicated English-language site with local, regional and global news for European readers.

To mark the launch of this new digital edition, the Guardian’s Europe correspondent, Jon Henley , will host a live and interactive online discussion with MEPs, leading political scientists and experts, to explore how the biggest challenges Europe faces today are reshaping the continent. Speakers include the Dutch MEP Sophie in 't Veld , the French writer and activist Rokhaya Diallo, and the political analyst and academic Catherine Fieschi . You will have the opportunity to put forward your own questions and comments during this livestreamed event.

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How a schoolteacher and a dog educator became crucial to the global fight against coronavirus

At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the fight against the disease was described by heads of government and public health bosses on primetime television.

Countries would receive daily updates collated from data that had been analysed by the world-leading virologists and academics.

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Gap between the mental health of the poorest and richest children narrowed, researchers say

Wealthier children experienced the steepest decline in mental health during the pandemic, research suggests.

Children’s mental health worsened across the board in the UK during the pandemic. But those whose parents were highly educated, employed, stayed together and had high incomes suffered sharper falls in mental health than those who were less well off.

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Study finds evidence virus can survive treatment with molnupiravir, leading to mutated versions that sometimes spread

An antiviral drug used to treat patients with Covid-19 may be causing mutations in the virus and fuelling the evolution of new variants, scientists have said.

Molnupiravir, which is also sold under the brand name Lagevrio, is designed to mutate coronavirus to destruction, but researchers found evidence that the virus can sometimes survive the treatment, leading to mutated versions that occasionally spread to other people.

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I was attacked online for presenting evidence on Covid – it made me reflect on how we can rebuild public faith in science

Last year, as the number of Italians getting a fourth booster dose of the Covid vaccine waned, the country’s ministry of health asked me, as a scientist, to appear on a 50-second TV spot , explaining why vulnerable people should get another jab. It was aired hundreds of times on television. As a result, I received a lot of emails attacking me; on Twitter and Facebook I was (wrongly) denounced as someone in the pocket of big pharma.

At the height of the pandemic in October 2020 I’d had a similar experience. At the time, I was president of the Accademia dei Lincei, Italy’s most important scientific academy, and the second deadly wave of Covid was arriving. I argued in a long and reasoned article , highlighting the epidemiological situation in detail, that either drastic measures would need to be taken immediately or500 deaths a day could be expected by mid-November (unfortunately the prediction was accurate). Immediately after publication, I receivedemails telling me in the strongest of terms that I had better not get involved in other people’s business.

Giorgio Parisi is a theoretical physicist and the author of In a Flight of Starlings: The Wonder of Complex Systems. Together with Klaus Hasselmann and Syukuro Manabe, he won the Nobel prize in physics in 2021

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Patients have been left confused and frustrated with no centralised system for obtaining medicines

Changes to the way Covid treatments are obtained by those most at risk from the disease could lead to a “postcode lottery” for access, experts have said, with charities warning patients have been left confused and frustrated by the new system.

Previously, people eligible for Covid treatments in England were contacted by their local Covid Medicines Delivery Unit (CMDU) once they reported testing positive for the virus.

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Mental health issues and lack of faith in government support are driving desire to change status

Mental distress and financial insecurity has pushed 40% of self-employed workers to say they would switch to a salaried job if they could secure the same income, according to an academic study that has tracked self-employment trends during the Covid-19 pandemic.

About one in eight would accept a 20% pay cut to get out of self-employment, such is the damage done to their mental health and the expectation that government support will not be forthcoming should another crisis wreck their business.

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