133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
10 March 2022
Matthew Bell
By email: [FYI request #16595 email]
Ref: H202111499/566529
Tēnā koe Matthew
Your request for official information - Preliminary inquiry - 566529
I refer to your request for official information (ref.H202111499). Upon further consideration, the
Ministry would like to clarify that the statement you refer to in your request was indeed made by
the Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield. Unfortunately, the Ministry’s transcript
records show that this statement was made by the Prime Minister, resulting in your request
being refused. The Ministry would like to apologise for any confusion this may have caused and
would like to offer you a reconsidered response.
Please find the media transcript attached for your reference. This is released to you in full.
In response to your request for “the evidence, facts and scientific data used to make this claim”,
please note that the Ministry does not conduct studies or research. However, the COVID-19
Vaccine Technical Advisory Group (CV TAG) provides advice to the Ministry and provides
recommendations regarding the use of the Pfizer vaccine. Information regarding Myocarditis
following vaccination can be found at the following link, which may be useful to your request:
https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/information-
release/h202116974_response_0.pdf. Please refer to page 12.
The Immunisation Advisory Centre (IMAC) has been contracted by the Ministry of Health to
provide education and support to all health professionals and allied workforces during the
rollout.
Further information regarding Myocarditis (including references to studies) can be found at the
IMAC website her
e: https://covid.immune.org.nz/faq/myocarditis-and-covid-19-vaccine-new-
zealand#:~:text=The%20risk%20of%20myocarditis%20from,males%2012%20to%2030%20yea
rs.
In addition, please note that Dr Bloomfield addressed Myocarditis alerts in a previous stand up
on 21 July 2021. The link to this can be found her
e: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr9kB-
DW0nU.
More information regarding the CV TAG can be found at the following link:
https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/leadership-ministry/expert-groups/covid-19-vaccine-
technical-advisory-group-cv-tag. I hope this assists with your complaint to the Ombudsman.
Nāku noa, nā
Jan Torres
Acting Manager, OIA Services
Office of the Director-General
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