Bhinneka News Online: Monday morning briefing

Monday 28 December 2020

What you need to know about the coronavirus today

Indonesia bans foreign visitors for two weeks over new coronavirus variant
International visitors will be barred from Indonesia for two weeks to try to keep out a new, potentially more contagious variant of the novel coronavirus, its foreign minister Retno Marsudi said.

Pfizer to complete supply of COVID-19 vaccines to EU by September
The distribution of an initial 200 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech across the European Union will be completed by September, a spokesman for the EU Commission said.

Swedish government to get wider shutdown powers under proposed pandemic law
The Swedish government will have the power to close shopping centers and public transport from Jan. 10 and fine people who break the rules, under a new law proposed to help halt the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Exclusive: Russia ships only first part of COVID-19 vaccine to Argentina
Russia’s first big international shipment of its coronavirus vaccine -- 300,000 doses sent to Argentina last week -- consisted only of the first dose of the two-shot vaccine, which is easier to make than the second dose, sources told Reuters.

Piecemeal data releases threaten to undermine Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine
Fragmental releases of efficacy data for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac could undermine confidence in the shot, as several countries prepare for mass inoculations with the vaccine.

Reuters reporters and editors around the world are investigating the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
We need your help to tell these stories. Our news organization wants to capture the full scope of what’s happening and how we got here by drawing on a wide variety of sources.

Are you a government employee or contractor involved in coronavirus testing or the wider public health response? Are you a doctor, nurse or health worker caring for patients? Have you worked on similar outbreaks in the past? Has the disease known as COVID-19 personally affected you or your family? Are you aware of new problems that are about to emerge, such as critical supply shortages?

We need your tips, firsthand accounts, relevant documents or expert knowledge. Please contact us at coronavirus@reuters.com.

We prefer tips from named sources, but if you’d rather remain anonymous, you can submit a confidential news tip. Here’s how.