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UNITED NATIONS, United States– UN chief Antonio Guterres told the all-virtual Davos forum on Monday that the world must vaccinate everybody against Covid-19 to ensure a way out of the pandemic.

JERUSALEM — Fourth doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines against Covid-19 are only “partially” effective for the Omicron variant of the virus, the authors of an Israeli trial said Monday.

SYDNEY, Australia — The first death from a massive underwater volcanic blast near the Pacific island nation of Tonga has been confirmed, as the extent of the damage remained unknown Monday.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles Monday, Seoul said, its fourth weapons test this month as Pyongyang flexes its military muscle while ignoring offers of talks from the United States.

AFGHANISTAN –At least 26 people were killed after an earthquake hit western Afghanistan on Monday, an official said.

MONTREAL, Canada – Canada’s health authority said Monday it has approved Pfizer’s anti-Covid pill, Paxlovid, for adults at high risk of progressing to serious disease.

GENEVA, Switzerland –Moderna aims to roll out a combined Covid-flu-RSV booster vaccine in late 2023, the US pharmaceutical firm said Monday, hoping a joint jab would encourage people to get an annual shot.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) located in the National Capital Region (NCR) moved their opening of limited face-to-face classes next month, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said.

Amid the surge in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the country, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said that at least 260 higher education institutions have declared and will declare academic break.

The vaccination rate in higher education continues to increase, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said.

The expansion phase of limited face-to-face classes eyed to start in the first week of February will only include vaccinated participants, the Department of Education (DepEd) said.

President Duterte shared a light moment with members of the government’s pandemic task force on Monday evening, when he caught Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officer-in-charge (OIC) Director-General Oscar Gutierrez by surprise and asked him if he really did love him.

Even with the increase of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Monday night, Jan. 17, that admissions remain to be lower in comparison to the surge experienced with the peak of cases involving the Delta variant.

President Duterte urged people anew to get vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), saying most of those who recently died of the disease or from complications from it were probably not vaccinated.

Some areas in Mandaluyong City, Taguig City, Makati City, Pasig City and Taytay, Rizal will experience water service interruption from Jan. 18 to 20, the Manila Water Company Inc. announced on Monday, Jan. 17.

President Duterte is hoping that the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the country has already peaked, saying the disease remains to be the top threat to Filipinos aside from the New People’s Army (NPA).

The daily growth rate of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Metro Manila continued to decline but the region is still considered at “very high risk” for infections, the independent research group OCTA said on Monday evening, Jan. 17.

The recent signing by President Rodrigo Duterte of Republic Act 11597 or the Philippine Veterans Bank Act is expected to pave the way for the revitalization of the state-owned bank as authorized capitalization will increase.