133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
5 November 2021
Adam Irish
By email: [FYI request #17016 email]
Ref:
H202113494
Tēnā koe Adam
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 3 October 2021 for:
“The government's strategy appears to be moving towards reliance on vaccines. What
efforts are and have been made to secure vaccines for New Zealanders under the age of
12. Has any contract for supply been signed with any manufacturer. And when will these
vaccines be ready for that age group”
Vaccination will only be available for children aged under 12 once it has been approved by
Medsafe and Cabinet approves it for use.
Pfizer must apply to Medsafe in order to be considered and granted with provisional approval
for the Cominarty Pfizer vaccine for use in children under 12 years of age. Pfizer has not yet
applied to Medsafe to vary the approval of their COVID-19 vaccine for children under the age of
12. If and when Pfizer does submit an application, Medsafe will prioritise the assessment of the
data for this age group.
If Medsafe provisionally approves the Pfizer vaccine for people under 12 years, further clinical
and scientific advice will be sought from the COVID-19 Vaccine Technical Advisory Group
before it goes to Cabinet for a “decision to use”. If and when there is a decision to use the Pfizer
vaccine for youth between 5 to 11 in New Zealand, the Ministry will provide more details about
how this will be rolled out as part of our immunisation programme.
You may be interested in Information on the purchase of additional COVID-19 vaccines has
been published by the Beehive at:
www.beehive.govt.nz/release/additional-pfizer-covid-19-
vaccines-purchased. 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. Nāku noa, nā
Nick Allan
Manager OIA Services
Office of the Director-General
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