12 November 2021
Chuck Schooner
fyi‐request‐17129‐[email address]
Tēnā koe Chuck
Your Official Information Act request, reference: GOV‐014681
Thank you for your request of 11 October 2021, partially transferred to ACC on 14 October 2021, asking
for the following information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
Up to and including 18 September 2021 a total of 68 deaths were reported to CARM after the
administration of the Comirnaty vaccine. Also up to 30 June within 21 days of the administration of
either one or two vaccines a total of 749 people died. From this information can the relevant
agencies please provide
1.
How many of these recorded deaths received compensation for the deaths and what
amounts?
2.
With these compensation payouts can you provide copies of the non‐disclosure
agreements?
3.
A total payout to date for these deaths?
Background information about treatment injury claims
Before responding to your request, we would first like to provide you some background information
about treatment injuries.
A physical injury resulting from a vaccination, including the COVID‐19 vaccine, can be considered for
cover by ACC if the criteria for treatment injury are met.
ACC has provided cover for treatment injuries since 1 July 2005. The treatment injury provisions
replaced the medical misadventure provisions of the Accident Compensation Act 2001, to bring it more
in line with the no‐fault nature of the scheme.
A treatment injury is a personal injury caused as a result of seeking or receiving medical treatment from,
or at the direction of, a registered health professional. In order to fulfil the criteria for cover, the person
must have suffered a personal injury and there must be a clear causal link between the treatment and
the injury, and the injury must not be a necessary part or ordinary consequence of the treatment.
When considering treatment injury data, it is important to note that the number of claims lodged with
ACC cannot be taken as an accurate indication of the occurrence of injury during treatment or the
quality of care. This is because, among other reasons, not all occurrences of injury during treatment are
lodged with ACC.
More information about lodging a treatment injury claim is available on our website and in our
treatment injury claim lodgement guide.
Covid‐19 vaccine related treatment injury claims Please note that we can only respond based on the vaccine related claims lodged with ACC, and the
figures may differ to those previously reported or supplied. Up‐to‐date data on the number of adverse
effects reported from the COVID‐19 vaccine can be found on the MedSafe website, here.
GOV‐014681
As at 8 November 2021, no claims for fatalities in relation to the COVID‐19 vaccination had been lodged
with ACC. As there have been no claims for fatalities in relation to the COVID‐19 vaccination, we are
refusing to provide you the total payout, as this information does not exist. This decision has been made
under section 18(e) of the Act.
Copies of the Non‐Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)
ACC does not require an NDA when providing compensation for a claim. Therefore, we are refusing to
provide you copies of non‐disclosure agreements, as the information does not exist. This decision has
been made under section 18(e) of the Act.
Further information may be available from the Ministry of Health
You could send your request to the Ministry of Health via their online form here or email them at
[email address] as they may hold additional data regarding COVID19 vaccine injuries and/or
deaths.
How to contact us
If you have any questions, you can email me at [email address].
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.
Yours sincerely / Nāku iti noa, nā
Sasha Wood
Manager Official Information Act Services
Government Engagement & Support
Accident Compensation Corporation
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