133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T +64 4 496 2000
27 February 2023
W www.medsafe.govt.nz
Erika Whittome
By email: [FYI request #21874 email]
Ref:
H2023020621
Tēnā koe Erika
Response to your request for official information
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) to Manatū Hauora
(the Ministry of Health) on 18 February 2023, for information regarding the listing of Adverse
Effects Following Immunisation (AEFI) case numbers for the Comirnaty (Pfizer) COVID-19
vaccine. You requested:
“The AEFI listing on Medsafe's webpage for Comirnaty contains records for Adverse
Events with a AEFI Case number. This is on https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/COVID-
19/safety-report-46.asp This case number starts at AEFI-A-000000, AEFI-A-000001,
AEFI-A-000002 and appears to sequentially increment by an integer number up to AEFI-
A-079517 (dated Nov 2022). Where are the following records which do not follow the
sequence and appear to be gaps: AEFI-A-000003 AEFI-A-013886 (Aug-21) through to AEFI-A-020096 (Aug-21) which is 6 thousand plus
missing records AEFI-A-000017 AEFI-A-079490 AEFI-A-079493 AEFI-A-079505”
I refer you to the AEFI listing spreadsheet in Medsafe’s COVID-19 Vaccines Safety Reports. The
spreadsheet states that AEFI numbers may be missing for various reasons as listed below:
•
The report was deemed invalid (see “valid report” for more details)
•
The report was for a medication error
•
AEFI was for a different country
•
AEFI number only roughly reflects the submission time of the report
AEFI-A numbers are not sequential, they should be used solely as a case identifier not as a
sequential listing of all received adverse reaction reports. Salesforce is the platform Manatū
Hauora uses to submit adverse reactions to. Salesforce does not provide an auto-number
sequence due to the nature of parallel processing occurring in the platform. This is explained in
Salesforces platform help article at:
https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=000383836&type=1.
I trust this information fulfils your request. 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
Manatū Hauora website at:
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/responses-
official-information-act-requests. Nāku noa, nā
Chris James
Group Manager
Medsafe
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