DMS-42-6-11483
11 September 2023
ASE
[FYI request #22481 email]
Tēnā koe ASE
Official Information Act request
We refer to your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request of 17 April 2023 to both the
Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and New Zealand Security Intel igence
Service (NZSIS) seeking the fol owing information:
al information held by GCSB/NZSIS relating to any correlations between COVID-19
“vaccines” and mortality.
al information held by GCSB/NZSIS relating to any correlations between COVID-19
“vaccines” and morbidity.
al information held by GCSB/NZSIS relating to causality between COVID-19 “vaccines”
and mortality.
al information held by GCSB/NZSIS relating to causality between COVID-19 “vaccines”
and morbidity.
al information relating to the status, release, management, and/or dissemination of
such information, as requested herein.
al information relating to any such information, as requested herein, that may have
been passed from, to, or through GCSB/NZSIS channels.
We have prepared a joint response to your request.
As you did not confirm your eligibility to make an OIA request to either agency, we did not
accept your request. On 30 June 2023 the Office of the Ombudsman confirmed to us that
you were eligible and we started processing your request.
You were advised on 31 July 2023 that the time limit for responding to your request had
been extended to 11 September 2023 because the request necessitated a search through a
large quantity of information and meeting the original time limit would have unreasonably
interfered with the operations of the department.
This extension was necessary as your request required a search of our document
management and email systems. As I am sure you can appreciate, we hold a large number
of documents that feature the words “COVID-19” and “Vaccines”. Due to the wording of your
request, we had to review al these documents to determine whether they were in scope.
Response
We confirm that we hold information in scope of your request.
1
We hold copies of the fol owing publicly available documents and have provided you the
relevant link. As such, we are partial y refusing your request pursuant to section 18(d) of the
OIA, as the documents are publicly available.
Title/Link
Date
Relevant excerpt
Strategic
March
“Despite the continued evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants, al
Preparedness,
2022
vaccines approved through WHO’s Emergency Use Listing
Readiness and
(EUL) process show high effectiveness at preventing severe
Response Plan (WHO)
disease and death after a primary series. Booster vaccination
is required to sustain a high level of effectiveness.”
COVID-19 and other
Jan
“As COVID-19 has shown in several jurisdictions, particularly
pandemics require a
2023
in the Asia- Pacific region, using an elimination strategy to
coherent response
delay widespread transmission of SARS-CoV-2 for 18 months
strategy (The Lancet)
or more al owed time for development and distribution of
effective vaccines. This approach was particularly evident in
New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore. The net effect was
that such countries had relatively low cumulative COVID-19
mortality, less pressure on health services, and better
economic outcomes, than most other high-income
countries.”
“The Strategy to Achieve Global Covid-19 Vaccination lays out
the different goals of the Covid-19 vaccination programme
with a priority to:
i) minimize deaths, severe disease and
overal disease burden, and the impact on health systems,
fol owed by
i ) resume ful socio-economic activity; and
i i) reduce future risks, including the risk of new variants.”
“Despite the continued evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants, al
vaccines approved through WHO’s Emergency Use Listing
(EUL) process show high effectiveness at preventing severe
disease and death after a primary series. Booster vaccination
is required to sustain a high level of effectiveness.”
Transforming or
May
“Vaccination is essential to reduce severe disease and death.
tinkering_ the world
2022
Yet the available COVID-19 vaccines seem to have limited
remains unprepared
effect on transmission, and boosters are required to continue
for the next
to protect vulnerable populations. We need better, more
pandemic threat (The
accessible diagnostic tools, vaccines, and treatments and
Lancet)
responsive public health strategies. Test and treat
programmes must be implemented and accessible to
prevent COVID-19 deaths.”
The Global Risks
2022
“Rapid and wholesale easing of constraints on social and
Report (WEF)
economic activity often resulted in a steep rise in case
2
numbers, although the impact on health systems and
mortality was often mitigated by high vaccination rates.”
Strengthening
2022
“Vaccines are a key medical countermeasure for responding
Australia’s Pandemic
to a pandemic as they reduce disease transmission, which
Preparedness (CSIRO)
saves lives, keeps people out of hospital, and protects
populations that are disproportionately vulnerable to the
impacts of disease. This reduces pressure on the healthcare
system. Effective vaccines can also reduce pressure on
development and scale-up of other medical
countermeasures, including therapeutics.”
The remaining documents have been withheld under the fol owing grounds of the OIA:
section 6(a) the making available of the information would be likely to prejudice the
security or defence of New Zealand or the international relations of the Government
of New Zealand.
section 6(b)(i), the making available of that information would be likely to prejudice
the entrusting of information to the Government of New Zealand on the basis of
confidence by the Government of any other country or any agency of such a
Government.
We can, however, confirm that none of the documents being withheld showed an increase in
morbidity or mortality as a result of vaccine usage.
Review
If you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact
[email address] or [NZSIS request email].
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.
Ngā mihi
Bridget White
Andrew Hampton
Te Tumu Whakarae Rangitahi mō Te Tira Tiaki
Te Tumu Whakarae mō Te Pā Whakamarumaru
Acting Director-General of the GCSB
Director-General of Security
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