Dear Mr Juillard,

 

I refer to your official information request dated 25 June 2021. The open
letter referred to in the TVNZ article is publicly available, and your
request for it is refused under section 18(d) of the Official Information
Act 1982 (OIA).

Under section 12(2) of the OIA, a request for official information needs
to be specified with “due particularity”. Your request for “all
information about the letter” does not meet this requirement and
accordingly has not been treated as a request for official information
under the OIA.

You have the right to make a complaint to an Ombudsman if you are
dissatisfied with this response.

Yours sincerely
Rebecca Ewert

General Counsel

University of Auckland

 

From: Arthur JUILLARD <[1][FOI #15901 email]>
Sent: Friday, 25 June 2021 9:08 AM
To: legal <[2][email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Health professionals open letter
with misleading vaccine claims

 

Dear University of Auckland,

On 14 May 2021, TVNZ 1 News reported that some doctors have "signed an
open letter that seemingly shares some misleading claims around Pfizer's
Covid-19 vaccine," and that, "In her role as a research fellow at the
University of Auckland, Kate Hannah is looking into disinformation. She
says the letter that is seemingly signed by a number of medical
professionals is "concerning".

Please provide me with a copy of the the letter referred to by University
staff members in that news report. Please provide me with all information
about the letter, including the allegedly misleading claims around the
Pfizer vaccine.

Given the public interest in the rollout of the vaccination programme,
please treat this request with some urgency. Despite being an advocate of
vaccination the freedom of information, even if it is misinformation, is
of the upmost importance for healthy public discourse and freedom from
censorship.

Thank you.

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