Kia ora

 

Thank you for taking the time to get in touch with Prime Minister Jacinda
Ardern.

 

 If you are writing about an issue relating to COVID-19, mental health,
Immigration, housing or benefit assistance, here's a list of links which
you might find helpful:

 

 

COVID-19

For urgent queries around Managed Isolation availability and/or exemptions
go to miq.govt.nz  

Requesting an emergency allocation:
[1]https://www.miq.govt.nz/travel-to-new-ze...
/

To make a complaint or request a review of your application:
[2]https://www.miq.govt.nz/about/contact-us... /.

 

For information on COVID-19, including the latest updates, go to
covid19.govt.nz

 

If you are concerned that someone is not following the COVID-19
requirements, you can report it here:
[3]https://forms.police.govt.nz/forms/covid...

 

Information about the COVID-19 Protection Framework can be found here:
[4]https://covid19.govt.nz/traffic-lights/c...
 and guidance for businesses can be found here:
[5]https://www.business.govt.nz/covid-19/  

 

Current locations of interest are set out at
[6]https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/dise...
. We encourage anyone who has been at one of the locations of interest at
the time specified to self-isolate and call Healthline on 0800 358 5453.

 

You can find the nearest testing centre to you at
[7]https://www.healthpoint.co.nz/covid-19/  and your nearest vaccination
centre at [8]https://www.healthpoint.co.nz/covid-19-v... . You can
also book your vaccination at [9]https://bookmyvaccine.covid19.health.nz/
 or by calling 0800 28 29 26.

 

To get your My Vaccine Pass online head to
[10]https://mycovidrecord.health.nz/  or for help over the phone you can
call 0800 222 478 between 8am and 8pm, 7 days a week. Those pharmacies
giving COVID-19 vaccines can also help with My Vaccine Pass face to face,
and can be found here:
[11]https://www.healthpoint.co.nz/covid-19-v...
 .

 

For immigration and visa advice

Contact the call centre which is open  6:00am Monday to midnight on
Saturday (NZT).

 

[12]https://www.immigration.govt.nz/contact

 

For urgent housing or benefit enquiries:

∙             Call 0800 559 009 (for under 65)

∙             Call 0800 552 002 (for over 65)

 

Information on Work and Income’ opening hours over the Christmas and New
Year Period is available here:
[13]www.workandincome.govt.nz/about-work-and-income/news/2020/christmas-new-year-holiday-information.html

 

If you need treatment or support for your health or wellbeing:

 

The following options are available:

Healthline – You can call Healthline for health advice on freephone 0800
611 116 at any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Healthline staff
can advise you on the best thing to do in your situation, including which
services are near you and open.

 

1737 – If you need to talk to someone about how you are feeling, you can
call or text 1737 for free at any time to talk to a trained counsellor.

 

Mental health crisis teams – If you are concerned that someone is going to
hurt themselves or someone else, you can all your local mental health
crisis team. A full list of numbers is available here:
[14]www.health.govt.nz/your-health/services-and-support/health-care-services/mental-health-services/crisis-assessment-teams

 

For Police assistance in an emergency call 111.

 

For everything else use 105.

You can also make a report online at [15]105.police.govt.nz,

 

We hope that this information is helpful, if not we will try to get back
to you as soon as possible.

Thank you again

 

 

Office of the Prime Minister

 

 

 

 

 

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I am writing on behalf of the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, to acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act request.

Your request will be responded to under the provisions of the Official Information Act 1982.

Yours sincerely

Dinah Okeby
Office of the Prime Minister

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Tçnâ koe S Hill

 

Official Information Act request relating to recommendations for ending
the vaccine mandates

 

Thank you for your request made under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act), received on 2 March 2022. You requested:

 

“[1] Has the Director General of Health, or any employee/consultant of the
Ministry of Health made recommendations to the Prime Minister, Cabinet
Ministers or Government for ending vaccine mandates?

 

[2] If 'yes' to the question one, what was the recommendation?

 

[3] What is the Prime Ministers reasons for maintaining vaccine mandates,
in light of studies publishing showing poor effect in limiting
transmission.”.

 

We believe the requested information you have requested in questions one
and two is more closely connected to the functions of the Ministry of
Health. Accordingly, we have decided under section 14(b)(ii) of the Act to
partially transfer your request to the Ministry of Health.

 

The Ministry of Health has the usual time limits from receipt of this
transfer to make a decision on your request.

 

With regard to question three, this part of your request is declined under
section 18(d) of the Act, that the information requested is or will soon
be publicly available.

 

I refer you to the publicly available comments on the Prime Minister’s
views around vaccine mandates, which can be accessed here:

[1]https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/defaul...

 

 

Ngâ mihi nui,

 

 

Private Secretary (Executive Support)

Office of the Prime Minister

Authorised by Rt. Hon Jacinda Ardern MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington

 

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References

Visible links
1. https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/defaul...

Kia ora,

 

Thank you for your request for official information which was partially
transferred from the Office of the Prime Minister and received by the
Ministry of Health on 14 April 2022. The Ministry’s reference number for
your request is H202205440.

 

If you need to contact us at any stage about your request, please quote
this reference number in your correspondence. You requested:

 

“[1] Has the Director General of Health, or any employee/consultant of the
Ministry of Health made recommendations to the Prime Minister, Cabinet
Ministers or Government for ending vaccine mandates?

 

[2] If 'yes' to the question one, what was the recommendation?”

 

Your request has been logged and you can expect a reply no later than 17
May 2022 as required under the Official Information Act 1982.

 

Ngâ mihi

 

OIA Services

Government Services

Office of the Director-General

Ministry of Health

E: [1][email address]

 

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Thank you for your Official Information Act request. This is
an automatic reply to let you know we received it.

In accordance with the Act, we'll let you know our decision within no more
than 20 working days. If you'd like to calculate the timeframe, you can
use the Ombudsman's online calculator
here: [1]http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/

Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic response, the Ministry is experiencing
significantly higher volumes of queries and requests for information. This
means we may take some time in responding to your request. The Ministry
regularly updates information about the COVID-19 situation and publishes
OIA responses considered to be of public interest:
[2]https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...

Please also refer to the Unite Against Covid-19 website for copies of
papers, minutes, and key advice for the decisions the Government has made
relating to COVID-19.

Sometimes we may need to clarify aspects of a request. You can expect to
hear from us soon if that is the case here.

Ngā mihi,

OIA Services

Government Services

Office of the Director-General

Ministry of Health

E: [3][email address]

 

 

 

 

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References

Visible links
1. http://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&a...
2. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...
3. mailto:[email address]

Kia ora S Hill

Thank you for your request for official information, which was transferred
from the Prime Minister's office on 14 April 2022 requesting:  

[1] Has the Director General of Health, or any employee/consultant of the
Ministry of Health made recommendations to the Prime Minister, Cabinet
Ministers or Government for ending vaccine mandates?
[2] If 'yes' to the question one, what was the recommendation?
The Ministry of Health has decided to extend the period of time available
to respond to your request under section 15A of the Official Information
Act 1982 (the Act) as further consultation is required.
You can now expect a response to your request on, or before, 8 June 2022.
You have the right, under section 28 of the Act, to ask the Ombudsman to
review my decision to extend the time available to respond to your
request.

Ngā mihi

 

OIA Services Team

 

[1]Ministry of Health information releases

[2]Unite against COVID-19

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References

Visible links
1. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...
2. https://covid19.govt.nz/

Kia ora S Hill

 

 

Please see attached a response regarding your request for official
information.

 

As you may be aware, it was announced on 4 April 2022 that most vaccine
mandates in New Zealand would end at 11.59pm that evening. My Vaccine
Pass was an extremely useful tool while we were getting the country
vaccinated and in our fight against Delta, but with around 95% of the
eligible adult population at least double dosed, it is no longer needed.
Businesses can still use the system if they choose to, but it is not
required.

Government vaccine mandates for all sectors except health and care
workers, prison staff, and border workers, were removed. The mandates
remain for health and care workers and prison staff because they come into
contact with a lot of people who are at high risk of serious illness from
COVID-19, and for our border workers because they are the first people who
would likely be exposed to any new variant of concern that emerges
internationally.

Our COVID-19 response has always prioritised the health of New Zealanders
by ensuring we are protecting our immunocompromised and high-risk members
in our communities. 

 

Further information about the 4 April 2022 decision is available at:
[1]https://covid19.govt.nz/news-and-data/la...
. 

 

More information on vaccination mandates in the workplace is available
at: [2]https://covid19.govt.nz/covid-19-vaccine....

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: [3][email address] or by calling 0800
802 602.  

Ngā mihi 

  

OIA Services Team 

  

[4]Ministry of Health information releases 

[5]Unite against COVID-19 

 

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References

Visible links
1. https://covid19.govt.nz/news-and-data/la...
2. https://covid19.govt.nz/covid-19-vaccine...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministr...
5. https://covid19.govt.nz/