133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
10 November 2021
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
Mark Paulson
By email: [FYI request #17150 email]
Ref:
H202114101
Tēnā koe Mark
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 12 October 2021 for:
“Please tell me how many vials of the covid 19 vaccine that you have purchased from
Pfizer have had to be destroyed or otherwise disposed of because they cannot be used.
The period covered by my request is for this calendar year up to and including 30
September 2021, or any later date if you have more recent information available.
I understand that each vial can provide 6 doses of vaccine, please confirm this is correct
and if not how many doses are in each vial.
Please advise the number of vials destroyed for each reason, eg: past its expiry date,
been out of cold storage for too long, etc, and how many vials wee full vials and how
many were partiall y full(and if known how many doses were disposed of).”
Data on the number of vials wasted from 13 July – 3 September 2021 is due to be publicly
released on the Ministry’s website here:
https:/ www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-
releases/responses-of icial-information-act-requests. Please note, wastage data was not
collected prior to 13 July 2021.
Each vial contains about 6 doses.
Your request for more recent data is refused under section 18(g) of the Act, as the information
you have requested is not available in the format that you have requested. While the Act
enables people to request official information from the Ministry, it only applies to information it
holds. There is no obligation to create information or compile information it does not hold in
order to respond to requests.
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.
Nāku noa, nā
Nick Allan
Manager, OIA Services
Office of the Director-General