This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Official Information request 'Questions regarding vaccination mandates and covid response'.




 
 
133 Molesworth Street 
PO Box 5013 
Wellington 6140 
New Zealand 
T+64 4 496 2000 
 
10 December 2021 
 
 
 
Mathew Ultee 
 
By email:  [FYI request #17713 email] 
Ref:   
H202116914 
 
 
Tēnā koe Mathew 
 
Response to your request for official information 
 
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) on 30 November 
2021 for information around COVID-19, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, vaccinations, 
alternative treatments, ventilators, camembert cheese and related information. Rather than 
repeat your request verbatim, I have attached it as Appendix 1. 
 
While the law allows New Zealanders to request official information from Ministers and 
government agencies, there is no requirement under the Act for the Ministry to create new 
information, compile information it does not hold, provide or prove an opinion or respond to 
hypothetical questions. Many of your questions – which are essentially a form of cross-
examination – appear to be an attempt to engage in a debate about the Government’s response 
to the COVID-19 pandemic and its vaccination programme rather than a request for information 
under the Act. The Act does support requests where an opinion, comment, hypothetical 
statement or leading question is put to the Ministry for response, couched as a request for 
information. Therefore, your request is refused under section 18(g) on the grounds that the 
information is not held by the Ministry. 
 
However, since the global pandemic began, the Ministry and other government agencies have 
proactively published a significant amount of information about COVID-19 that would answer 
many of your questions. I want to draw your attention to the following points:   
 
•  Comprehensive information about New Zealand’s COVID-19 response, including 
vaccination, alert levels, overseas travel and departure tests, and proactively released 
material received by the Minister for COVID-19 Response Hon Chris Hipkins. All this 
information is available on the Unite against COVID-19 website at: www.covid19.govt.nz.  
 
•  The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet is the lead agency for the All-of-
Government response to the COVID-19 pandemic and has published information about 
its work, including Cabinet papers at: https://dpmc.govt.nz/our-business-units/covid-19-
group. 
 
 
•  COVID-19 case numbers are published daily by the Institute of Environmental Science 
and Research (ESR) at: https://nzcoviddashboard.esr.cri.nz/#!/   ESR has also published 
a wide range of other information about the SARs CoV-2 virus and its response work at: 

www.esr.cri.nz/our-expertise/covid-19-response/.  
 
•  The Ministry also publishes COVID-19 case data at www.health.govt.nz/our-
work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-
statistics/covid-19-current-cases, 
COVID-19 Situation Reports a
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/general-information-
releases/covid-19-situation-reports-january-november-2020 
and COVID-19 vaccination 
data 
at www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-
coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-vaccine-data.
 
 
•  New Zealand’s Medicines and Medical Devices Authority, Medsafe, has published a 
range of information on the approval of COVID-19 vaccines, including safety reports for 
Adverse Events Following Immunisation at: www.medsafe.govt.nz/index.asp.   
 
•  Medsafe has also published information about thrombosis  at 
www.medsafe.govt.nz/Consumers/educational-material/Thrombosis-with-
Thrombocytopenia-Syndrome.pdf,
 vaccination and pregnancy at 
www.medsafe.govt.nz/safety/Alerts/covid-19-vaccination-in-pregnancy.asp, and 
myocarditis and pericarditis at www.medsafe.govt.nz/safety/Alerts/comirnaty-
myocarditis-alert.htm 
amongst a range of other topics.       
 
•  The Ministry has published responses to requests under the Act, which cover many of 
the issues you have raised, including information on PCR testing and the isolation of the 
COVID-19 virus at: www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/responses-
official-information-act-requests 
and particularly the response to questions 14, 15, 16 
and 17 of this response: www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/information-
release/h202111151_response.pdf 
 
 
•  The Ministry also publishes information on PCR testing at: www.health.govt.nz/our-
work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-
public/assessment-and-testing-covid-19/how-covid-19-testing-works. 
 
 
•  Additionally, a range of peer reviewed scientific research about the COVID-19 virus has 
been published on PubMed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the 
National Institutes of Health in the United States at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. 
 
•  The Ministry has published a review on a range of scientific information on COVID-19-
related topics at: www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-
coronavirus/covid-19-resources-and-tools/covid-19-science-news.
 This includes 
information about therapeutic treatments for COVID-19 that have been approved and 
those (e.g., ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine) are unsupported by scientific evidence: 
www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/pages/csu_09_july_2021_covid-
19_pharmaceutical_treatments.pdf  
 
 
•  The Ministry website provides the Immunisation Handbook 2020 and under chapter 5, 
provides a range of information and references to scientific literature about COVID-19 
and COVID-19 vaccines. This is available at: www.health.govt.nz/our-
work/immunisation-handbook-2020/5-coronavirus-disease-covid-19.
   
 
Please note, information relating to camembert cheese may be held by the Ministry for Primary 
Industries (MPI). For further information, you may wish to could contact MPI directly. 
 
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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 of Health website at: www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases.  
 
Nāku noa, nā 
 
 
 
Jan Torres  
Acting Manager, OIA Services  
Office of the Director-General  
 

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