133 Molesworth
Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
21 January 2022
Tim Webb
By email: [FYI request #17860 email]
Ref:
H202117202
Tēnā koe Tim
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 6 December 2021 for information regarding COVID-19, COVID-19
vaccine certificates, and heart conditions.
Each part of your request is responded to below:
Please specify the actual harm caused directly to another person from a person who is
unvaccinated for covid-19?
An unvaccinated person is more likely to be infected with and spread COVID-19 than a
vaccinated individual. The following link provides information on vaccine effectiveness and
other health measures:
www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-
novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/about-covid-19/covid-19-about-delta-
variant. This shows that vaccination reduces transmission and the severity of COVID-19 if
infected.
More studies and research regarding COVID-19 vaccines can be found on PubMed here:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ and the New England Journal of Medicine here:
www.nejm.org/coronavirus.
Please confirm that any person can contract covid-19 regardless of whether
vaccinated or unvaccinated for covid-19?
Any person can contract COVID-19 whether they are vaccinated or unvaccinated. As you
have been advised, vaccination reduces the transmission and severity of COVID-19
symptoms and likelihood of fatality if infected.
Please confirm that a person vaccinated for covid-19 can be positive and pass on the
covid-19 virus to another person regardless of covid-19 vaccine status?
While a vaccinated person can spread COVID-19, the risk is greatly reduced. Vaccines are a
critical aspect of the package of measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19. It is expected to
reduce overall infection rate and the incidence of symptomatic disease, and therefore the
risk of onward transmission within our communities. Getting vaccinated is the best way for
New Zealanders to protect themselves, their whānau and communities from COVID-19.
The vaccine helps prevent you from getting infected and having COVID-19 symptoms, or
severe illness. This means you could have no COVID-19 symptoms or will have much fewer,
milder symptoms and recover faster.
A summary of currently available data about the effect that vaccination has on the
transmission of COVID-19 is available at:
www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-
ncov/science/science-briefs/fully-vaccinated-people.html.
Will blood be used from a covid-19 vaccinated person in blood transfusions, and if so,
what analysis has been done on the potential effects?
This part of your request is refused under section 18(g) of the Act, as the information
requested is not held by the Ministry. For information about blood and blood transfusions,
please contact the New Zealand Blood Service at:
www.nzblood.co.nz/contact-us/.
What are the privacy safeguards for the covid-19 passport and what are the penalties
and liabilities in the event of a breach of privacy?
Every COVID-19 vaccine certificate generates a unique identifier for that certificate. Each
certificate will be issued with a unique identifier captured within it, and this will be retained in
the audit log. The jti (Json Web Token ID) of the My Vaccine Pass or the unique vaccine
certificate identifier (UVCI) of the EU Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC) will be held in the
log, so it can be queried in the event of a fraud investigation or other relevant query.
If you request production of a My Vaccine Pass or International Travel Vaccination
Certificate, the Ministry will retain an audit log record to enable investigation of any query
about the legitimacy of a certificate issued or the use of the certificate. This will include the
national health index (NHI) number of the person the certificate was issued to, the type of
certificate, whether it is for an exemption or exception, the method by which the certificate
was requested, how the certificate was delivered to the individual, and the certificate
identifier, being the Json Web Token ID of the My Vaccine Pass or UVCI of the International
Travel Vaccination Certificate, so that it can be queried in the event of a fraud, or other
investigation. These records will also be used for internal Ministry statistical reporting.
Please note, individuals will not be identified in any such reports produced.
Anyone who knowingly accesses or uses, or attempts to access or use, the Service for an
unlawful purpose (including but not limited to fraud or attempted fraud or hacking or
attempted hacking), may be liable to prosecution under New Zealand Law. If it’s used
fraudulently to get access to someone else’s information, a person may face a fine of up to
$10,000 under section 212 of the Privacy Act 2020.
How many people have been admitted to hospital for heart conditions each year for
the last 6 years in 10 year age bands including 2021 to date?
The Ministry is able to provide data reported by the district health boards on publicly funded
hospital discharges, not hospital admissions. A hospital discharge is the formal release of a
Page 2 of 3
patient from hospital and occurs when a patient leaves hospital to return home, transfers to
another hospital or residential institution, or dies in hospital after formal admission.
The number of publicly funded hospital discharges since 2015 where heart disease was
reported is attached to this letter as Document 1. Please note that people hospitalised
multiple times (transfers, readmissions, multiple incidents) are counted each time.
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 website at:
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/responses-
official-information-act-requests. Nāku noa, nā
Dom Harris
Manager of the Deputy Chief Executive
COVID-19 Health System Response
Page 3 of 3
Document 1
Publicly funded hospital discharges for heart diseases from 1 January 2015 to October 2021
Total 00 to 09 10 to 19 20 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49
50 to 59 60 to 69 70 to 79 80+
2015/16
59341 326
479
787
1298
3975
8584
13529
14747
15616
2016/17
61523 280
485
822
1313
3798
8931
14152
15709
16033
2017/18
62490 343
459
929
1410
4017
9160
14223
16210
15739
2018/19
63810 359
507
885
1551
3907
9287
14263
16935
ACT 1982 16116
2019/20
63351 312
482
855
1591
3861
8862
14425
16753
16210
2020/21
67695 339
500
1002
1731
4035
9579
15278
18336
16895
Jul 2021 -
22151 97
143
308
561
1311
3160
5071
5831
5669
Oct 2022
Please note, this data was extracted on 20 December 2021
INFORMATION
RELEASED UNDER THE OFFICIAL
