133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
30 May 2023
Mark Shelly
By email: [FYI request #22426 email]
Ref:
H2023023312
Tēnā koe Mark
Response to your request for official information Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) to Manatū
Hauora (the Ministry of Health) on 9 April 2023. On 8 May 2023 Manatū Hauora contacted
you in accordance with section 15A of the act to advise that the due date for your request
had been extended for further collation. Each part of your request is responded to below.
1. Can you please advise if Comirnaty has ever been authorised for use to (1) reduce
or stop transmission of Covid-19 or (2) protect against the contraction of Covid-19?
If Comirnaty has been authorised for either of these purposes, for the wider population
or any specific demographic, please provide copies of:
Any and all decisions made by the Ministry or Minister granting such authorisation
Any and all recommendations made by the CV TAG, MAAC or any other party relied
on by the Minister or Ministry in making that decision, together with copies of the
agendas and minutes of the meeting(s) at which such recommendations were made.
2. Please provide copies of all recommendations made by CV TAG to MAAC,
Medsafe, MoH or the Minister to date.
The abovementioned parts of your request are refused under section 18(d) of the Act, as the
requested information is publicly available. Specifically, please refer to the following links:
• Number indications for Comirnaty
: www.medsafe.govt.nz/COVID-19/status-of-
applications.asp
• Copies of all recommendations made by COVID-19 Vaccine Technical Advisory
Group (CV-TAG)
: www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/leadership-ministry/expert-
groups/covid-19-vaccine-technical-advisory-group-cv-tag
3. Please
provide a schedule of all CV TAG meetings to date and agendas and
minutes for each.
In regard to the CV-TAG schedule aspect of your request, CV-TAG does not have a set or
predefined schedule. CV-TAG meet on an as needed basis, some months CV-TAG meet
weekly other times once a month. Manatū Hauora is providing you with a summary of the
dates CV-TAG met (please see full list overleaf):
2021
2022
2023
January
20, 25
February
4
1, 8, 15
2
March
2, 9, 23
1, 8, 22, 29
April
13, 27
26
May
11, 25
10
June
8, 22, 29
21
July
6, 13, 20, 27
19
August
3, 17, 31
16
September
7, 14, 21
13
October
5, 19
11
November
2, 9, 23, 30
8
December
7, 14
6
Some CV-TAG Minutes have been previously released and are publicly available on the
Manatū Hauora website here:
www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/information-
release/h2022017624_response_letter.pdf. Additionally, Manatū Hauora has identified 47 documents within scope of this part of your
request. All documents are itemised in Appendix 1 and copies of the documents are
enclosed. Where information is withheld under section 9 of the Act, I have considered the
countervailing public interest in release in making this decision and consider that it does not
outweigh the need to withhold at this time.
Further information regarding the Technical Advisory Group’s advice and recommendation
on the use of the COVID-19 vaccinations can be found here:
www.health.govt.nz/about-
ministry/leadership-ministry/expert-groups/covid-19-vaccine-technical-advisory-group-cv-tag.
4. Please
provide a schedule of all MAAC meetings between July 2021 and now and
agendas and minutes for each.’’
This information is publicly available on the Medsafe website here:
www.medsafe.govt.nz/committees/maac.asp. I trust this information fulfils your request. 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
Manatū Hauora website at:
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-
releases/responses-official-information-act-requests. Nāku noa, nā
Jane Chambers
Acting Deputy-Director General Public Health Agency | Te Pou Hauora Tūmatanui
Page 2 of 6
Appendix 1: List of documents for release
The following documents are being released with some information withheld under the
following sections of the Act:
• Section 9(2)(a) – to protect the privacy of natural persons
• Section 9(2)(k) – to prevent the disclosure or use of official information for improper
gain or advantage
#
Date
Document details
1
04 February 2021
Agenda: COVID-19 Vaccine Technical Advisory
Group
2
02 March 2021
3
09 March 2021
4
23 March 2021
5
13 April 2021
6
27 April 2021
7
11 May 2021
8
25 May 2021
9
08 June 2021
10
22 June 2021
11
29 June 2021
12
06 July 2021
13
13 July 2021
14
20 July 2021
15
27 July 2021
16
03 August 2021
17
17 August 2021
Page 4 of 6
#
Date
Document details
18
31 August 2021
19
07 September 2021
20
14 September 2021
21
21 September 2021
22
05 October 2021
23
19 October 2021
24
02 November 2021
25
09 November 2021
26
23 November 2021
27
30 November 2021
28
07 December 2021
29
14 December 2021
30
20 January 2022
31
25 January 2022
32
01 February 2022
33
08 February 2022
34
01 March 2022
35
08 March 2022
36
22 March 2022
37
29 March 2022
38
26 April 2022
39
24 May 202
40
21 June 2022
41
19 July 2022
42
16 August 2022
43
13 September 2022
Page 5 of 6
#
Date
Document details
44
11 October 2022
45
8 November 2022
46
6 December 2022
47
2 February 2023
Page 6 of 6
