9(2)(a)
9(2)(a)
under Official Information Act
Released
Te Whatu Ora maintains an inventory portal within the COVID-19 Immunisation Register to track
the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across all providers of COVID-19 vaccines.
c. Please confirm if any batches were halted from distribution prior to being fully used
based on high numbers of AEFI or Death reports being associated with them.
No batches of COVID-19 vaccine have had distribution halted for this reason.
d. Please confirm how many doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been disposed of in New
Zealand due to being expired, surplus to requirement or faulty/damaged.
From the beginning of the COVID-19 vaccination programme up to 7 August 2023, a total of
5,838,694 COVID-19 vaccines have been disposed of due to wastage. This includes doses of the
monovalent Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that were destroyed once the Adult BA.4/5 (Bivalent) vaccine
became available in March 2023. Vaccine wastage also occurred due to public uptake of COVID-
19 vaccines compared to volumes commit ed to under Advanced Purchase Agreements with
vaccine suppliers. Many of the doses that have expired in 2022/23 were purchased prior to the
2022/23 financial year.
e. Please advise the monetary value of all doses disposed of to date.
This information is refused under section 9(2) (b)(i ) of the Act as the information requested is
commercial y sensitive. If released, it would be likely to unreasonably prejudice the commercial
position of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the information.
f. Please outline how disposed doses are dealt with to safely get rid of them, including
whether they are placed in landfill or any other process or means of disposal utilised.
In compliance with the NZS4304:2002 regulations on the management and safe disposal of
infectious and contaminated waste, vaccines are disposed of by a waste disposal company. As
part of this process, vaccines are tracked to provide a visible audit system, from collection to
destruction.
under Official Information Act
4. Please confirm if placebo doses of any COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in New
Zealand, how these doses are identified from other doses, quantity of placebos used
expressed as a percentage or number of total doses administered, and how these doses
have been recorded.
No placebo doses of COVID-19 vaccine were used by either the Ministry of Health or Te Whatu
Released
Ora Health New Zealand COVID-19 Immunisation programmes.
5. Please confirm if Ministry of Health or its agents have knowledge of variation in strength
of COVID-19 vaccine doses being administered outside of or apart from the different
strength doses being supplied for children and young persons.
There has been no reduced-dose approach to COVID-19 vaccines by the National Immunisation
Programme.
How to get in touch
If you have any questions, you can contact us at [Health New Zealand request email].
If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman. Information about how to do this is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
by phoning 0800 802 602.
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public, Te Whatu Ora may
proactively release a copy of this response on our website. Al requester data, including your name
and contact details, wil be removed prior to release.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Rachel Mackay
Interim Director, Prevention
National Public Health Service
Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand
under Official Information Act
Released
TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
Te Whatu Ora, PO Box 793,
Wel ington 6140, New Zealand
