Good morning. We’re covering glitches in India’s vaccination campaign, China’s economic resilience during the pandemic and a Covid-19 hospital failure in Egypt. | |  By Melina Delkic | | | A health worker receiving the vaccine at a hospital in Hyderabad, India, on Monday. Mahesh Kumar A/Associated Press | | | State officials complained of problems with a digital platform called the Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network, or CoWIN, which is used by vaccine providers and recipients to monitor progress. Vaccine recipients have to sign up through the app. | | | The software became overwhelmed and didn’t work at many vaccination sites as the campaign began on Saturday. India is planning to vaccinate 1.3 billion people, as it battles the second-highest case count and third-highest death count in the world. | | | Details: On the first day, about 300,000 health care workers were set to be inoculated; the actual number was about 207,000. On Sunday, the number dropped to 17,072. | | ■ Australia’s health secretary said the country was unlikely to fully reopen its borders in 2021, despite vaccination efforts and pressure from the tourism industry. ■ Nearly one year after the virus was first detected in the U.S., the country reached another milestone in cases and is hurtling toward 400,000 total deaths. ■ In Japan, the health ministry reported three new cases on Monday of the variant that spread in Britain, the first to be discovered among residents with no travel history. | | | Large construction projects like this one in Hefei represent one of the strongest sectors of the Chinese economy. Keith Bradsher/The New York Times | | | The economy grew 2.3 percent last year, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics announced on Monday. By contrast, the U.S., Japan and many nations in Europe are expected to report steep falls in output. Exports and infrastructure have fueled the growth. | | | Despite the good news for China, the growth figures were still the lowest in 40 years. And there are pockets of weakness, like the lack of jobs for recent college graduates with little experience. Hotels and restaurants in inland provinces have not fully recovered like those in the major cities. | | | Obstacles: So much of China’s success in the past year stemmed from its ability to stamp out the coronavirus — but new outbreaks are challenging that resilience. The authorities are starting to reimpose a wide variety of health checks that are discouraging consumers from spending money. | | | Members of the National Guard outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sunday. Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times | | | It’s unclear when Speaker Nancy Pelosi will formally send the article of impeachment to the Senate, but once she does the chamber has to immediately move to begin the trial. | | | A slim Senate majority will allow Democrats to move ahead more easily on pandemic relief and cabinet appointments. Senators are scheduled to begin confirmation hearings this week, and they will do so with a phalanx of heavily armed National Guard troops nearby. | | | A video showing coronavirus patients at a hospital struggling to get oxygen went viral on social media this month, drawing outrage across Egypt. Four people died that night, when Ahmed Nafei, a relative of one of the patients, pulled out his phone and began filming, but the government denied that the hospital had run out of oxygen. | | | PAID POST: A MESSAGE FROM CAMPAIGN MONITOR | | TEST: Email Marketing 101: Never Sacrifice Beauty for Simplicity | | A drag-and-drop email builder, a gallery of templates and turnkey designs, personalized customer journeys, and engagement segments. It's everything you need to create stunning, results-driven email campaigns in minutes. And with Campaign Monitor, you have access to it all, along with award-winning support around the clock. It's beautiful email marketing done simply. | | | Learn More | | | | TV drama in India: Bollywood once again has fallen into the cross hairs of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, as politicians file criminal complaints against the Amazon web series “Tandav.” Among other objections, they accused the series of disrespecting Hindu gods, belittling members of individual castes and sullying the office of the prime minister. | | | Chris Graythen/Getty Images | | | Snapshot: Above, a virtual NASCAR race. When the pandemic shut down motorsports, the industry turned to simulated racing. No one knew if digital cars would draw viewers and pay off for sponsors, but 10 months in, the gamble seems to be paying off. | | | Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. | | | Cook: This loose interpretation of spanakopita, the classic Greek spinach and feta pie, combines pasta with gooey mozzarella, briny feta, plenty of greens and a rich cream sauce. | | | You can find more recommendations on what to read, cook, watch and do while staying safe at home in our At Home collection. | | | The past couple of weeks have been full of tense moments not only in Washington, but also in state legislative buildings where armed groups of pro-Trump protesters have gathered. Our reporters documented what they saw on the ground on Sunday. | | | Lansing, Mich: A small group of people armed with military-style weapons gathered in front of the State Capitol on Sunday morning, but with National Guard troops and State Police surrounding the building, nearly all of the protesters who had shown up were gone by early afternoon. “That’s why I’m here, because my vote got stolen,” one attendee said. | | | A group at the state capitol in Lansing, Mich., on Sunday. Bryan Denton for The New York Times | | | Salem, Ore.: Five men dressed in military-style clothing marched onto the grounds of the park across the street from the Oregon State Capitol around 10:30 a.m. They waved flags, including an upside-down American flag, and one held a “Disarm the Government!” sign made with marker on a white poster. “We always end up losing rights, whoever’s in office,” one protester said. | | | Austin, Texas: The Texas State Capitol had been closed out of concerns over the protest. Armed officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety patrolled the rolling Capitol grounds and guarded the entrance to the nearby governor’s mansion. “The only reason I’m here is to ensure that no one storms the Capitol,” one attendee said. “If they do, I’ll get in front of them and be trampled.” | | That’s it for this briefing. See you next time. — Melina | | Thank you
Carole Landry helped write this briefing. Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh provided the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com. | | P.S.
• There’s no new episode of “The Daily” while we celebrate Martin Luther King Day. May we recommend The Sunday Read on how a group of climate activists decided to fight global warming by doing whatever it takes.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: Soda bubbles (four letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• The word “chiroptophobia” — the fear of bats, which has spiked during the pandemic — appeared for the first time in The Times yesterday, as noted by the Twitter bot @NYT_first_said. | | | Were you sent this briefing by a friend? Sign up here to get the Morning Briefing. | | |
