Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

U.S. President Joe Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden would receive a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to boost their immunity, as his administration announced booster shots would be offered to Americans in September.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS EUROPE * The European Commission said it had reached a temporary agreement with South Africa to use a plant there to bottle Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines that are being imported into the EU, after criticism of the arrangement. * France has added Algeria and Morocco to its list of countries deemed high-risk COVID-19 zones as it battles a fourth wave of infections. ASIA-PACIFIC * New Zealand's cases jumped, as questions grew about the government's response to the pandemic given the slowest vaccination rate among developed countries and the economic pressures of prolonged isolation. * The Hong Kong government said that it and the Singapore government had decided not to further pursue a bilateral air travel bubble due to the differences in the anti-epidemic strategies. * Singapore will allow quarantine-free entry from next month to travellers from Germany and Brunei who are vaccinated against COVID-19, its aviation regulator said on Thursday, as part of a plan to gradually reopen its borders.