Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:

US to relax travel restrictions for vaccinated foreign air travellers in November

The United States will reopen in November to fully vaccinated air travellers from 33 countries including China, India, Brazil and most of Europe who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the White House said on Monday, easing tough pandemic-related restrictions that started early last year.

Separately on Monday, the United States extended its pandemic-related restrictions at land borders with Canada and Mexico that bar nonessential travel such as tourism through Oct. 21. It gave no indication if it would apply the new vaccine rules to the land border crossings. 

Protest erupts in Melbourne after virus worries shut down construction sites

Hundreds of people demonstrated in locked-down Melbourne on Tuesday after authorities shut down construction sites in the city for two weeks saying the movement of workers was spreading the coronavirus into regional areas.

The decision to halt building activities comes after an anti-vaccine mandate protest in the city turned violent on Monday. The state government requires all construction workers to have at least one vaccine dose by end of this week. 

India set to get first J&J COVID vaccine doses in October

India expects to get its first Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses from next month, filled and finished in India by a partner of the US drugmaker, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday. 

It could receive as many as 43.5 million doses of the single-shot vaccine in October, said the source - a big step towards helping India meet its target of producing more than 300 million doses in the month. 

Pfizer/BioNTech say data show vaccine safe, protective in children

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE said on Monday their COVID-19 vaccine induced a robust immune response in children aged 5 to 11, and they plan to ask for regulatory authorization as soon as possible to use the shot in that age range in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.

Top US health officials believe regulators could make a decision on whether the shot is safe and effective in younger children within three weeks of the companies submitting a request for authorization, two sources told Reuters this month. A rapid authorization could help mitigate a potential surge of cases this fall, with schools already open nationwide. 

COVID creates shortages of an array of US medical supplies

Shortages of masks and gloves that marked the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic have spread to a host of other items needed at medical facilities in the United States, from exam tables and heart defibrillators to crutches and IV poles.

It can now take up to five months to get some types of exam tables, for instance, compared with three to six weeks before the pandemic, according to CME Corp, a distributor of medical equipment that handles more than 2 million products. Shortages of raw materials, including plastics, metals, glass, and electronics, have hampered production.