13 April 2022
C149388
Chuck Schooner
[FYI request #18898 email]
Tēnā koe Chuck
Thank you for your email of 16 March 2021 to the Department of Corrections – Ara
Poutama Aotearoa, requesting information about COVID-19 vaccinations in prison. Your
request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA).
You requested:
Total Number of Prisoners
Total Number of Prisoners vaccinated
The number of people in prison who have received the COVID-19 vaccination is available on
Corrections’ website at the fol owing link:
https://www.corrections.govt.nz/news/corrections_covid-19_update/vaccination_update
This information is regularly updated and is broken down by dose number and prison. A
snapshot of the prison population is also available at this link. Note that the prison
population fluctuates daily due to arrests, releases, court decisions and transfers.
Any incentives/bribes provided to prisoners to take the vaccination
Any coercive techniques used to get prisoners vaccinated - such as prisoners not
getting fed, prisoners put in solitary confinement, prisoners not allowed outside and
or any other discriminatory practices used to get prisoners to take vaccine.
Corrections knows that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is the best thing that we can al
do to keep ourselves, the people we manage, our team and our wider community safe from
COVID-19. We are committed to ensuring that al of our staff and people in prison have
access to the COVID-19 vaccination on an ongoing basis.
Since the launch of our vaccination programme in May 2021 we have taken a proactive
approach to encourage everyone to be vaccinated against COVID-19. We have a dedicated
national team overseeing our vaccination programme, and custodial and health COVID-19
vaccination leads at each prison. Comprehensive communications have been enacted
throughout, which includes but is not limited to provision of information about vaccine
NATIONAL OFFICE, WELLINGTON
Mayfair House, 44 – 52 The Terrace, Wellington, 6011, Private Box 1206, Wellington 6140,
Phone +64 4 460 3000
www.corrections.govt.nz
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safety and effectiveness via a dedicated page on our internal website (for staff), information
and engaging material on prisoner kiosks, Prisoner TV, forums and conversations with
health staff, posters, pamphlets and other materials, including in a range of languages.
We continue to explore different means of reaching people in prison to encourage
vaccination. This includes local and national initiatives and shared insights across our prisons
to boost uptake of the vaccine. Initiatives include promoting word of mouth discussions with
influential leaders in our prisons and cultural y targeted educational forums.
Corrections ensures informed consent is always obtained from al people in prison who
received the COVID-19 vaccination. As occurred at many vaccination sites across the
country, some prisons provided food to people in prison fol owing their vaccination. This
included lollipops and cookies.
No individual was vaccinated fol owing a threat of retribution. Corrections has not and will
not engage in coercive behaviour to get people in prison vaccinated. Accordingly, this part
of your request is declined under section 18(e) of the OIA, as the information requested
does not exist or cannot be found.
Total number of adverse reactions in prisoners or any deaths
Corrections fol ows Ministry of Health guidance regarding the reporting of COVID-19 vaccine
side effects. This guidance requires that all incidents of anaphylaxis and rare side effects
such as Myocarditis caused by the COVID-19 vaccine be reported through to a national
database. As at 29 March 2022, no such adverse reactions have occurred to people in prison
as a result of the COVID-19 vaccine.
More common side-effects from COVID-19 vaccination that people in prison have
experienced include headaches and pain at the injection site. These more common, milder
side-effects wil be on the individual files of people in prison. Therefore, it would require
manual assessment of these files to provide this information. As a result, this part of your
request is refused under section 18(f), as the information cannot be made available without
substantial collation or research.
In accordance with section 18B of the OIA, we have considered whether consulting the
requestor would assist to make the request in a form that would remove the reason for the
refusal. However, we do not consider that the request could be refined in this instance.
No person in prison has died as a result of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Please note that this response may be published on Corrections’ website. Typical y,
responses are published quarterly, or as otherwise determined. Your personal information
including name and contact details will be removed for publication.
I trust the information provided is of assistance. I encourage you to raise any concerns
about this response with Corrections. Alternatively, you are advised of your right to also
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raise any concerns with the Office of the Ombudsman. Contact details are: Office of the
Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wel ington 6143.
Ngā mihi
Kerry Dougall
Acting Deputy Chief Executive Health
