Graham Burger
[FYI request #16547 email]
21 October 2021
Dear Mr Burger
Ref: DOIA 2122-0656
I refer to your request of dated 28 August 2021 to the Ministry of Health for information
under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA) that was transferred to MBIE for reply
on 17 September:
“Have any COVID19 vaccine manufacturers been provided with liability waivers
of any kind, including negligence by the NZ government or any agency?
Please provide details of any such waivers and the companies and agencies
involved.”
The New Zealand government has provided indemnities to the four companies from
which it has purchased vaccines: Pfizer, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca and
Novavax. The indemnities for Pfizer have been extended at the request of the Ministry
of Health to allow the supply of vaccine to Polynesia (Niue, Cook Islands, Tonga,
Tuvalu, Samoa and Tokelau), Fiji, and to acquire additional doses from Spain and
Denmark.
In accordance with S65ZD(3) of the Public Finance Act the Minister of Finance has
presented statements to the House of Representatives that these four indemnities have
been given. Statements of indemnity can be found on the Parliament website
www.parliament.nz.
The specific details of the indemnities are confidential, and are therefore withheld
under the following sections of the Act:
s9(2)(ba)(i) in order to protect information which is subject to an obligation of
confidence or which any person has been or could be compelled to provide under
the authority of any enactment, where the making available of the information
would be likely to prejudice the supply of similar information, or information from
the same source, and it is in the public interest that such information should
continue to be supplied
9(2)(ba)(ii) in order to protect information which is subject to an obligation of
confidence or which any person has been or could be compelled to provide under
the authority of any enactment, where the making available of the information
would be likely otherwise to damage the public interest;
9(2)(j) in order to enable a Minister of the Crown or any public service agency or
organisation holding the information to carry on, without prejudice or
disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations);
We are, however, able to provide you with the MBIE business cases on the indemnities
granted to the four companies from which we purchased pharmaceuticals. These
business cases are effectively MBIE’s request to the Minister of Finance to grant the
indemnity. Please note that some information in the documents has been withheld
under the sections of the Act above as well as:
9(2)(h) in order to maintain legal professional privilege
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this
decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Simon Rae
Manager, International Science Partnerships
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment