Destruction of 148,000 doses of COVID vaccines in Zambo Sur fire under probe
By Chito Chavez
Authorities are now conducting investigation the fire at the Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Health Office that destroyed more than 148,000 doses of vaccines for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), especially on the aspect of slow progress of the vaccination drive.
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said that aside from the department, the Department of Health (DOH), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) will join forces to conduct the probe.
The DILG chief added that authorities are looking into the possibility of investigating the localities conducting snail-paced vaccination processes to expedite the filing of the appropriate sanctions against them if it is proven that they were negligent or had committed lapses.
"This should serve as a wake-up call to the local chief executives (LCE) that the vaccines should be guarded to ensure that they do not go to waste and are immediately inoculated to the target population at the soonest time possible," said Año.
Año issued the warning after the President ordered him to hold local government units and local chief executives accountable for poor performance in the COVID-19 vaccination rollout.
In the same briefing, Año disclosed that 31,178 individuals were affected by the implementation of granular lockdowns across the country as of Nov. 1.
Año cited that incorporating granular lockdowns with the alert level system has been effective in containing the COVID-19 transmission.
“Makikita po natin na very effective ang ating ginagawa na granular lockdown alongside sa ating bagong alert level system. Ito na rin po ay dala dahil sa epektibo talaga ang ating (COVID-19) pagbabakuna (We can see that the granular lockdown we are enforcing alongside the new alert level system is very effective. This is also due to our effective vaccination.)
He noted that 432 granular lockdown areas in the country have affected 7,232 households in 283 barangays. (Chito A. Chavez)