23 March 2023
P McKenna
[FYI request #21573 email] Tēnā koe P
Your request for Official information, reference: HNZ00011574
Thank you for your email on 15 February, asking for the following which has been
considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
1)“For children aged 0-9 years (inclusive) in NZ and for the period 1 January to
30 September 2022 (inclusive):
1)Please supply the number of Hospitalisations with a Covid Positive test result
within the 28 days prior to, or during admission. Please supply numbers by
vaccination status (unvaccinated, 1 dose, completed primary course, and
boosted)
2)Please supply the number of Hospitalisations where Covid-19 was the cause or
contributing cause. Please supply numbers by vaccination status. Please also
supply the same information as above separately for the period 1 January to 31
December 2022
For clarity, 1) above refers to the original classification of Covid-19 hospitalisation
prior to July 2022, and 2) refers to the current classification. Please do not break
down by month but give data for the whole period.”
The number of children aged 5-9 years hospitalised with a Covid-19 positive test result or as
a result of Covid-19 by vaccination status between 1 January 2022 and 30 September 2022
can be found in Table 1 below.
This is followed by Table 2 which outlines the number of children aged 0-4 years
hospitalised with a Covid-19 positive test result or as a result of Covid-19 between 1 January
2022 and 30 September 2022.
Table 3 provides information on the number of children ages 5-9 years hospitalised with a
Covid-19 positive test result or as a result of Covid-19 by vaccination status between 1
January 2022 and 31 December 2022.
This is followed by Table 4 which outlines the number of children aged 0-4 years
hospitalised with a Covid-19 positive test result or as a result of Covid-19 between 1 January
2022 and 31 December 2022.
Table 1: Number of Covid-19 hospitalisations of children 5-9 years by vaccination
status, 1 January 2022 – 30 September 2022.
Unvaccinated One dose
Completed
Total
primary
course of
two doses
Hospitalisations 279
183
51
513
with a Covid-
19 positive test
result
Hospitalisations 189
126
27
342
due to Covid-
19
Table 2: Number of Covid-19 Hospitalisations of children 0-4 years, 1 January 2022 -
30 September 2022
Children under 5 years
Hospitalisations
with a Covid-10 positive
2232
test result
Hospitalisations
due to Covid-19
1773
Table 3: Number of Covid-19 hospitalisations of children 5-9 years by vaccination
status, 1 January - 31 December 2022
Unvaccinated One dose
Completed
Total
primary
course of
two doses
Hospitalisations 324
198
63
585
with a Covid-
19 positive test
result
Hospitalisations 213
138
36
387
due to Covid-
19
Table 4: Number of Covid-19 hospitalisations of children 0-4 years, 1 January - 31
December 2022
Children under 5 years
Hospitalisations
with a Covid-10 positive
2802
test result
Hospitalisations
due to Covid-19
2256
When considering the data, it is important to note:
• The hospitalisation definitions only include children who either tested positive after
admission to hospital, or in the 7 days prior to admission. The current reporting
system does not capture data within the 28 days prior to admission.
• A column outlining the number of children hospitalised who have had a booster shot
is not included in the above tables as children under 16 years are not eligible.
• The COVID-19 Vaccine Technical Advisory Group (CV TAG) does not currently
recommend vaccination for children aged 6 months to 4 years who are not in risk
categories for severe COVID-19. We cannot supply the number of hospitalisations
with and due to Covid-19 by vaccination status for children under 5 years as the data
is not collected in this way. Please refer to the link below for more information.
The numbers presented in the tables are also perturbed in order to preserve confidentiality. We
apply two data confidentiality methods,
perturbation and
suppression, to any data that is
not already released as exact counts on the Ministry’s website.
Perturbation is the adding of random noise to data and
suppression is not providing data,
where doing so could compromise confidentiality.
For data that is not already provided exactly on the website:
• All values between 1 and 5 are suppressed
• Zero values are provided exactly, except for in sensitive categories where a zero
value may be suppressed to protect other low values
• Values of 6 and above are perturbed using fixed random rounding to base 3
(FRR3).
This entails rounding values to neighbouring multiples of 3. For example, 11 may
be rounded to 12 or 9.
FRR3 is a best-practice confidentiality method recommended by Stats NZ.
For more information, visit:
https://www.data.govt.nz/toolkit/privacy-and-security/understanding-data-confidentiality/data-
confidentiality-principles-and-methods-report/
Examples:
True value
Displayed value
4
.s (suppressed)
11
9 or 12
15
15
16
15 or 18
301
300 or 303
More information around children and the Covid-19 vaccines are publicly available on the
Ministry of Health website linked below:
COVID-19 vaccine: Ages 5 to 11 years old | Ministry of Health NZ
COVID-19 vaccine: Ages 6 months to 4 years old | Ministry of Health NZ
How to get in touch
If you have any questions, you can contact us at
[email address]. If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman. Information about how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800 802 602.
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public, Te Whatu Ora may
proactively release a copy of this response on our website. All requester data, including your
name and contact details, will be removed prior to release. The released response will be
made available on our website.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Dr. Juliet Rumball-Smith
Director - Intelligence
National Public Health Service
Te Whatu Ora
