Authorities have yet to identify the worth of COVID-19 vaccines affected by the fire incident at the Zamboanga del Sur provincial center in Barangay Dao over the weekend.
Zamboanga Del Sur Medical Center and Integrated Provincial Health Office chief Dr. Anatalio Cagampang Jr. earlier reported that among the damaged vaccines were AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer, and Sinovac.
Hepatitis, measles, and polio vaccines were not spared from the Sunday (Oct. 31) fire.
In a joint statement, national officials leading the country’s COVID-19 response said “148,678 doses of COVID 19 vaccines were damaged,” including 9,176 AstraZeneca, 14,400 Moderna, 88,938 Pfizer-BioNTech, and 36,164 CoronaVac.
Based on the initial investigation, the fire started at the government office’s ground floor. A fire out was declared past 3:00 a.m. on Monday (Nov. 1) and no casualties were reported.
“The three-storey building which is occupied by different offices and departments of the provincial government also served as the provincial cold chain storage facility for COVID-19 vaccines allocated for 26 municipalities and one component city,” the statement read.
Jabs for second dose, minors
Authorities said the AstraZeneca doses were allocated for second dose vaccinations, while the Moderna doses will be used for the pediatric vaccination rollout on Wednesday (Nov. 3).
The Pfizer vaccines for Pagadian City were also included in the fire as they were stored in the provincial facility amid the city’s full ultralow freezer capacity.
“The Sinovac vaccines were not delivered immediately because there were already LGUs that refused to accept the said vaccines due to vaccine brand preference,” the statement read.
The vaccination drive will be rescheduled, while the retrieval of vaccines and equipment is ongoing. The National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 said it will replenish and immediately ship the vaccines.
Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is set to issue show-cause orders to Zamboanga del Sur provincial government “for their failure to deliver the vaccines three days after the receipt of the supplies.” (PTV News)/ AG- bny
