Over 148,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses destroyed in Zamboanga del Sur fire —NTF

At least 148,678 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were damaged during the fire that hit the Provincial Health Office of Zamboanga del Sur on Sunday, the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 said Tuesday.

In a joint statement of its top officials, the NTF said the fire destroyed 9,176 doses of AstraZeneca; 14,400 of Moderna; 88,938 Pfizer-BioNTech; and 36,164 doses of Sinovac vaccines.

Some routine immunization vaccines allocated for the province were also damaged.

The AstraZeneca vaccines were allocated as second doses and were scheduled for deployment on November 3, the NTF said.

It added that the Moderna vaccines were set for the pediatric vaccination for ages 12 to 17 years old, which was scheduled to begin on November 3.

A quarter of the Pfizer vaccines were allocated for Pagadian City and temporarily stored at the provincial cold storage because the city’s ultra-low freezer (ULF) was already at full capacity.

The NTF said half of the Pfizer doses were meant for the province’s vaccination rollout, while another quarter of the supply were scheduled for deployment to other local government units.

Meanwhile, the Sinovac vaccines were not delivered immediately because some LGUs had refused to accept the brand due to the preference of the recipients, according to the NTF.

The three-storey building served as the cold chain storage facility for COVID-19 vaccines for 26 municipalities and one component city in Zamboanga del Sur.

Despite the loss in supply, the NTF said they can replace it with new allocation.

NTF vice chairman and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of Health to probe the incident.

The DILG tasked the Philippine National Police and the Bureau of Fire Protection and its regional offices to ensure a speedy investigation.

A show cause order will be issued to the provincial government of Zamboanga del Sur for their failure to deliver the vaccines three days after the receipt of the supplies, the NTF said.

“May this unfortunate incident be a reminder to all local government units to ensure the safety and security of these life-saving vaccines,” the NTF said.

“To avoid similar incidents happening in the future, the DILG and DOH are reiterating to all LGUs at the municipal, city, and provincial levels to ensure that safety officers are reporting 24/7 in all COVID-19 cold chain facilities and warehouses,” it added.

DOH, DILG probe

During the Laging Handa briefing, Health Undersecretary and National Vaccination Operations Center chairperson Myrna Cabotaje said the DOH and the DILG will be investigating the incident.

“We will have to look bakit napakarami ng bakuna nila, bakit hindi nai-move, so we will look into that and see who are accountable. May DILG memo na kailangan i-move yung bakuna three days after we received them,”she said.

(We will have to look into why they have so many vaccines, why these weren’t moved, and who is accountable. There’s a DILG memo that the vaccines should be moved three days after we received them.)

Meanwhile, Cabotaje said the regional office will be distributing its buffer stock in vaccination centers for the administration of the second dose.

“And we’re looking at paano i-stock ‘yung ating mga cold-chain equipments. Kung may additional refs na mai-reposition, additional freezers, tapos ‘yung mga ultra-ref,” Cabotaje said.

(And we’re looking at how to stock the cold chain equipments if we could reposition additional refs, additional freezers, and the ultra-refs.)

“In this week, hanggang end of the week, more or less stabilize na merong pagdadalhan nung ating sensitive na vaccine na pfizer and moderna. ‘Yung ating AstraZeneca and Sinovac… baka pwede na i-dstribute sa lokal na pamahalaan” she added.

(From this week to next week, sensitive vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna are more or less stable. The AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines may be distributed to local governments.)

Meanwhile, Justice chief Menardo Guevarra said they will request the regional office of the National Bureau of Investigation to step in if there are indications of foul play involved,” he said in a message to reporters. — AOL/RSJ, GMA News