COVID overshadows Duterte’s plans for final year in office

Philippine president confronts a pandemic that has brought the economy to its lowest level since World War II and left more than 27,000 dead.

Just days after the first COVID-19 death due to the Delta variant was announced in the Philippine southern island of Mindanao, Khim Caermare, a volunteer teacher for the deaf, gathered 15 of his students to convince them to get vaccinated. The province had recently experienced a surge in infections that filled hospitals and more than 170 deaths. The Delta variant was first identified in India. His students needed the COVID-19 vaccine fast, Caermare figured. But convincing them to get the shot was not easy.