133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T +64 4 496 2000
W www.medsafe.govt.nz
27 January 2022
Tess McCawe
By email: [FYI request #17452 email]
Ref:
H202117767
Dear Tess
Response to your request for official information Thank you for your follow up request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) to the
Ministry of Health (the Ministry) on 14 December 2021. I have attached the responses to your
previous requests as Appendix 1 (ref: H202114758), Appendix 2 (ref: H202115491), and
Appendix 3 (ref: H202116818). You stated:
In Appendix 3 you have provided me with the evidence that form AE9128 was edited after
the pharmacist sent it to CARM. I have the orignial form so I know that the paragraph
under the heading “Medical History” was created later without my knowledge or
permssion. My OIA request to you relates to process so I do not need to know what this
person wrote and you do not have my permission for that paragraph to be shared with
anyone.
In order to respond to my OIA request (which is for details of the process used to change
AE9128), please provide answers to the following specific questions.
I will respond to each part of your request in turn.
What was the date and time that the text placed under the paragraph headed “Medical
History” was created?
As your request (ref: H202116818) was made through the publicly available FYI website, the
Ministry requested that you provide an email address as the response included a copy of your
adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) report. As you declined to provide an email address
and this response would therefore be published on a public website, the copy of your AEFI report
was released to you with identifying information withheld under section 9(2)(a), to protect the
privacy of natural persons. This included the section under “Medical History.” The Medical History
section is written by the vaccinator and includes information on relevant past medical history,
whether an individual is pregnant or breastfeeding, any history of allergies, and whether overseas
vaccinations have been administered.
This section is created by the vaccinator at the same time as the report in the COVID
Immunisation Register. As information on who wrote this section is not held by the Ministry, this
part of your request is refused under section 18(g)(i) of the Act. I encourage you to contact your
vaccinator directly for information regarding this part of your request.
The Ombudsman has provided guidance that public sector employees can be named when
performing their duties, so (2) please state the name of the person who created the
paragraph “Medical History” in the form AE9128. (3) Please state this person's medical
qualifications and (4) the name of their employer. If they are a contractor, please (5) provide
the details of their contract. (6) Please state all information sources used by this individual
when they wrote the "Medical History" paragraph.
This information is not held by the Ministry and your request is therefore refused under section
18(g)(i) of the Act. Please contact your vaccinator directly for information regarding these parts of
your request.
Most importantly, (7) please state the specific legislation which allowed this individual to
access my personal information without my knowledge or permission and / or create new
information without my input or consent.
Under section 22 of the Privacy Act 2020, an agency that holds personal information obtained in
connection with one purpose may use that information for a purpose directly related to the
purpose in connection with which the information was obtained.
As mentioned in the response to your previous request (ref: H202116818), you have the right to
ask the Ministry to amend any incorrect information it holds about you. Please contact the
Ministry via email at
[email address] if you believe any personal information in
this report requires correction or if you have any further inquiry regarding information held about
you in the COVID-CARM database.
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.
Yours sincerely
Derek Fitzgerald
Acting Group Manager
Medsafe
Page 2 of 2
