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Indonesia announces punishments for those who refuse COVID vaccines

COVID-19 vaccination of some 1,500 traders at the Tanah Abang Market,l Jakarta City on Wednesday, as the Indonesian Ministry of Health begins to roll out the second phase of its coronavirus innoculations program. Photo: Araminta JR / Opn Images/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

Indonesia's government has made COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for anyone who's eligible and warned of punishments for those who refuse, as authorities move to curb Southeast Asia’s largest coronavirus outbreak, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

The big picture: Sanctions include fines and social assistance program delays. Local authorities will decide on penalties. The government is providing the vaccines for free. Over 1.2 million Indonesians have tested positive for the virus, per Johns Hopkins.

Go deeper

Rebecca Falconer
Feb 17, 2021 - Health

Testing and tracing "win" sees New Zealand city lockdown end despite COVID cases

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern arrives at a news conference at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, New Zealand, on Wednesday. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Wednesday Auckland's snap lockdown will end at midnight.

Why it matters: Officials confirmed two new COVID-19 community cases Wednesday. Ardern told reporters test results show "we don't have a widespread outbreak, but rather a small chain of transmission," centering around an Auckland high school, "which is manageable."

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Orion Rummler
Feb 17, 2021 - Health

U.S. administering average of 1.7 million vaccine doses per day

The seven-day average of coronavirus vaccines administered in the U.S. has reached 1.7 million per day, White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients said at a Wednesday briefing.

Why it matters: That pace puts President Biden on course for meeting his goal of 100 million doses administered in his first 100 days in office, which would land on April 29. 54 million vaccine shots have been administered thus far, and 5% of Americans have received both doses.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Zach Dorfman of the Aspen Institute, author of Codebook
Feb 17, 2021 - Technology

How countries amplify COVID disinformation

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

China, Russia and Iran — drawing on one another’s online disinformation — amplified false theories that the COVID-19 virus originated in a U.S. bioweapons lab or was designed by Washington to weaken their countries, according to a nine-month investigation by AP and the Atlantic Council’s DFRLab.

Why it matters: Through a series of overlapping, if slapdash, efforts, America's global adversaries benefited from mutually reinforcing counter-narratives propagated online that aimed to falsely place responsibility for the pandemic on the U.S. and often to sow doubt on its actual origin within China.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow