133 Molesworth
Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
14 January 2022
Helen Wallis
By email: [FYI request #17603 email]
Ref: H202117600
Tēnā koe Helen
Response to your request for official information
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) to the Ministry of
Health (the Ministry) on 14 December 2021 for:
…any and all documentation given to the Prime Minister and or her cabinet about
vaccinating teachers to protect our children.
I would like to amend it to I am requesting any and all (including but not limited to)
documentation, communication, notes, emails, online meetings minutes and meeting
minutes provided by any and all persons involved with the Ministry of Health (including
but not limited to employee, advisor, recipient of information) to the Ministry of Health
to the Minister of health and/or the Director general of health about the effect (benefits,
risks, social consequences, loss of staff etc) of vaccinating teachers to protect
children.
I am also requesting any and all (including but not limited to) studies made, research
funded, documentation, communication, notes, emails, online meetings minutes and
meeting minutes provided by any and all persons involved with the Ministry of Health
(including but not limited to employee, advisor, recipient of information) to the Minister
of Health and/or the Director general of health about the effect of vaccinating children
in all age groups from 0 -18 years.
I would like to request any and all (including but not limited to) documentation,
communication, notes, emails, online meetings minutes and meeting minutes received
from or sent to the New Zealand Medical council in regards to what doctors and
medical staff may and may not do, say, advise, prescribe, or question in regards to
Covid 19: in general, treatment thereof (pre and post infection), vaccination, natural
immunity generated.
I would also like to request any and all (including but not limited to) documentation,
communication, notes, emails, online meetings minutes and meeting minutes that the
MoH has in regards to the omicron variant of covid 19.
On 22 December 2021, the Ministry contacted you about refining your request, because the
way it was currently worded was for a very large volume of information. You were advised
that your request could be refused under section 18(f) of the Act. You did not respond.
On 12 January 2021, the Ministry contacted you again about refining your request. You
responded asking for advice as to how to refine your request. The Ministry advised you
could select a specific time frame or specify a topic. You replied with a refined request of:
Please focus this section on the communication to the minister of health and Director
general of health. for the last two months leading up to the vaccination mandate for
teachers.
I would like to amend it to I am requesting any and all (including but not
limited to) documentation, communication, notes, emails, online meetings
minutes and meeting minutes provided by any and all persons involved with
the Ministry of Health (including but not limited to employee, advisor,
recipient of information) to the Minister of
health and/or the Director general of health about the effect (benefits,
risks, social consequences, loss of staff etc) of vaccinating teachers to
protect children.
Please focus the following on the the time period 1st October 2021 - 31 December
2021. Please ensure that all information from all time frames are included regarding
the benefit to risk is discussed for children aged 5-11
I am also requesting any and all (including but not limited to) studies
made, research funded, documentation, communication, notes, emails, online
meetings minutes and meeting minutes provided by any and all persons
involved with the Ministry of Health (including but not limited to
employee, advisor, recipient of information) to the Minister of Health
and/or the Director general of health about the effect of vaccinating
children in all age groups from 0 -18 years.
The following section need not be refined as I imagine there is a summary already
made.
I would like to request any and all (including but not limited to)
documentation, communication, notes, emails, online meetings minutes and
meeting minutes received from or sent to the New Zealand Medical council
in regards to what doctors and medical staff may and may not do, say,
advise, prescribe, or question in regards to Covid 19: in general,
treatment thereof (pre and post infection), vaccination, natural immunity
generated.
Omicron is relatively new therefore a time frame doesn't make sense.
I would also like to request any and all (including but not limited to)
documentation, communication, notes, emails, online meetings minutes and
meeting minutes that the MoH has in regards to the omicron variant of
covid 19.
Your refined request is still very large and would require the involvement of many Ministry
staff across multiple directorates, and the potential to have hundreds of documents within
scope. Searching for communications and emails would involve one member of staf
searching through multiple email inboxes, which would unreasonably interfere with the
workings of the Ministry. Therefore, your request is refused under section 18(f) of the Act as
the information requested cannot be made available without substantial collation or
research. I have considered whether charging or extending the time to compile the
information that would enable the Ministry to respond, however, as each piece of
correspondence would have to be individually reviewed. The Ministry remains wil ing to
engage with you on a revised scope for your request.
Please note, the Ministry does not conduct scientific research or studies. The Immunisation
Handbook (Chapter 5) provides references to scientific studies conducted regarding COVID-
19 and the vaccine:
www.health.govt.nz/our-work/immunisation-handbook-2020/5-
coronavirus-disease-covid-19.
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Medsafe also publishes up to date information regarding the Comirnaty vaccine, including its
clinical efficacy and safety at:
www.medsafe.govt.nz/profs/PUArticles/June2021/Spotlight-
on-Comirnaty-vaccine.html.
More studies and research regarding the vaccine can be found at:
•
PubMed (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/), and
• The New England Journal of Medici
ne (www.nejm.org/coronavirus)
The datasheet for Comirnaty for the use in children aged 5-11 years old is publicly available
at
: medsafe.govt.nz/profs/Datasheet/c/Comirnaty0.2mlOrangeCapinj.pdf.
Information regarding Omicron from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
can be found at:
www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/omicron-variant.html
Further information about Omicron that you may find useful is available at:
•
www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-
coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/about-covid-19/covid-19-about-omicron-
variant
•
www.health.govt.nz/news-media/news-items/omicron-update
For information regarding the vaccination mandate of teachers, please contact the Ministry
of Education at:
www.education.govt.nz/our-work/contact-us/.
Under section 28(3) of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review any
decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be contacted by email at:
[email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at:
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/responses-
official-information-act-requests.
Nāku noa, nā
Jan Torres
Acting Manager OIA Services
Office of the Director-General
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