133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
9 December 2021
Maxwell
By email: [FYI request #17581 email]
Ref:
H202116328
Tēnā koe Maxwell
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 15 November 2021 for:
“… correspondence between the COVID-19 Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring
Board (CV ISMB) and the COVID-19 Vaccine Technical Advisory Group (CV TAG) since
Wednesday 1st September 2021?
- Current and historic safety reports
- Current and historic safety evaluations
- Current and historic adverse reaction reports”
The Ministry has searched its records and has not identified any communications of this nature
between CV-ISMB and CV TAG since Wednesday 1 September 2021. Therefore, your request
is refused under section 18(e) of the Act, as the information requested does not exist.
However, I can confirm that the Chair of CV-ISMB, Dr John Tait, has been attending CV TAG
meetings since mid-August. Likewise, a Science Technical Advisory member, representing
myself as the Chair of CV TAG, has been attending CV-ISMB meetings, as such they are
mutually across all work being undertaken.
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
Dr Ian Town
Chief Science Advisor
Chair, COVID-19 Vaccine-Technical Advisory Group