MANILA— Almost 150,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were lost in a fire that hit the Provincial Health Office of Zamboanga del Sur on October 31, the National Task Force Against COVID-19 and the Department of Health said in a joint statement.

Based on initial reports, the fire destroyed 148,678 doses of COVID-19 jabs.

More than half or 88,938 of these jabs were from Pfizer-BioNTech, while 36,164 doses were from Sinovac.

About 14,400 doses, meanwhile, were from Moderna, while 9,176 were from AstraZeneca.

Routine immunization vaccines allocated for the province were also destroyed in the fire, officials said.

The three-storey building, which is occupied by different 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 AstraZeneca vaccines were allocated as second doses and were scheduled for deployment on November 3, according to the statement.

The Moderna shots, meanwhile, were meant for the pediatric vaccination rollout for minors aged 12 to 17, which was also scheduled to begin on November 3.

Responders are now in the process of retrieving vaccines which can still be used, as well as unutilized refrigerators, carriers, and transport boxes, according to the statement.

Vaccine administration at the provincial and municipal level has also been rescheduled, it added.

In the statement, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez, testing czar Vince Dizon, and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año assured Zamboanga residents that all damaged vaccines will be replenished as soon as a new storage facility is ready for use.

The Philippine National Police and Bureau of Fire Protection are also now investigating the incident, they said.

Justice Secretary Meynardo Guevarra also said he is ready to ask the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to help with the probe if needed.

In a text message to reporters, he said he will ask the NBI's regional office to lend a hand if signs of foul play are noted in the initial investigation.

"We’ll wait for the initial assessment of the Bureau of Fire Protection. if there are any indications of foul play, I will request the NBI regional office to step in," he said.

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"It is beyond us kasi force of nature iyan, iyong fire. But we will have to look at bakit napakarami nung bakuna nila, bakit hindi na-move," said Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, who chairs the National Vaccination Operations Center.

(It is beyond us because that is a force of nature, the fire. But we will have to look at why they had so many vaccines, why these were not moved.)

The official noted an interior department memorandum required vaccines to be deployed 3 days after receipt.

"We will look into that and see who are accountable," she said in a televised public briefing.

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— Reports from Benise Balaoing, Jamaine Punzalan, and Johnson Manabat, ABS-CBN News