133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T +64 4 496 2000
W www.medsafe.govt.nz
21 September 2021
Anna Goodwin
By email: [FYI request #16606 email]
Ref:
H202111657
Dear Anna
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 2 September 2021 for information regarding the New Zealand Medicines
Act 1981.
You specifically requested:
“The NZ Medicines Act 1981, s96 stipulates that any research or treatment involving part
of a tissue or cell must be approved by an ethics committee to assure that it is aligned
with the unique and specific ethical, cultural, and spiritual framework of Aotearoa. The
Pfizer vaccine that has been received by about 25% of our population contains
messenger RNA which is part of a cell, and it is specifically designed to alter the cells of
the recipient to promote the manufacture of the Covid viral spike protein by the cells of
recipient. Please provide the names of and meeting summaries of any and all NZ ethics
committee reviews that were obtained prior to the vaccine roll out.
Section 96 of the Medicines Act refers to xenotransplantation and this does not apply to the
vaccine. Therefore, this part of your request is refused under section 18(e) of the Act as the
information requested does not exist.
Section 57g of the Medicines Act 1981 specifies that no one can publish directly or by
implication information that suggests a medicine or device "cannot harm any person". The
Pfizer vaccine has yet to meet its safety endpoints (safety and efficacy studies to be
completed 2023). Please also provide the information that the Ministry of Health relied
upon to convey to the NZ public that the vaccine "cannot harm them".”
The Ministry is unable to ascertain where the quoted words attributed to it were sourced from.
Therefore, this part of your request is also refused under section 18(e) of the Act.
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. Yours sincerely
Chris James
Group Manager
Medsafe
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