Factbox - Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

(Reuters) - Police in Melbourne used pepper balls and rubber pellets on Tuesday to scatter thousands of protesters who defied stay-at-home orders to damage property, block a busy freeway and injure three officers, leading to more than 40 arrests, authorities said.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news

EUROPE

* Greece will make a booster vaccine available to doctors and other medical staff in the coming weeks, health ministry experts said.

* The European Union welcomed the United States' announcement it will re-open its doors to European travellers vaccinated against COVID-19 in November, rolling back restrictions in place since early last year.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* Some health experts in Singapore are calling for mandatory vaccination against the coronavirus with a growing toll of severe COVID-19 among unvaccinated people as infections surge and with vaccine take-up plateauing at 82% of the population.

* After a drastic reduction in wildlife trafficking during the pandemic, authorities in Southeast Asia must act swiftly to stop smugglers getting back in business once border controls are relaxed, according to a forthcoming UN report.

* India expects to get its first Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses from next month, filled and finished in India by a partner of the U.S. drugmaker, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

AMERICAS

* Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau narrowly won re-election on Monday but failed to secure a majority in parliament, after alienating some voters by calling a snap vote two years early during a fourth wave of the pandemic.

* Shortages of masks and gloves that marked the early days of the 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.

* Argentina is expected to begin rolling out an economic stimulus package from Tuesday, as center-left President Alberto Fernandez tries to try to rev up growth and claw back support after a bruising primary election defeat a week ago.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Pfizer and BioNTech SE said their 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.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* World stocks stabilised on Tuesday and oil prices recovered from the previous day's heavy selling, as investors grew more confident that contagion from the distress of debt-saddled Chinese developer Evergrande would be limited.[MKTS/GLOB]

* Indonesia's central bank left its main policy rates steady at a record low to support an economic recovery from a recent devastating resurgence of COVID-19, while anticipating the impact of U.S. tapering later this year.

* Australia's central bank is concerned the spread of the Delta variant could slow the economy's recovery once lockdowns start to ease, although it still expects strong growth to resume next year.

(Compiled by Federico Maccioni and Devika Syamnath; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)