Coronavirus: China tries to shift virus blame
Facing global anger over their initial mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak, the Chinese authorities are trying to rewrite the narrative of the pandemic by pushing false theories that the virus originated outside China.
Details: Chinese officials have said that packaged food from overseas may have initially ushered in the virus. Scientists have released a paper positing that the pandemic could have started in India. The state news media has published stories misrepresenting foreign experts as having said the coronavirus came from elsewhere.
Context: This push comes as the World Health Organization begins an inquiry into how the virus jumped from animals to humans. Chinese scientists have been designated to lead key parts of the investigation.
Analysis: The campaign seems to reflect anxiety within the ruling Communist Party about the pandemic’s continuing damage to China’s international reputation. Western officials have criticized Beijing for trying to conceal the outbreak when it first erupted.
Here are the latest updates and maps of the pandemic.
In other developments:

■ Russia began vaccinating thousands of people in Moscow on Saturday, kicking off a campaign that will expand nationally next week. The country’s Sputnik V vaccine has not been fully proved to be safe and effective.

■ Residents of nursing homes in the U.S. could receive a virus vaccine by the end of December, said the chief scientific adviser of Operation Warp Speed.
The New York Times