Legal advice and Cabinet papers regarding Pfizer/Comirnaty provisional consent and Medicines Amendment Act 2021
John Armstrong made this Official Information request to Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
This request has an unknown status. We're waiting for John Armstrong to read recent responses and update the status.
From: John Armstrong
Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
Pursuant to the Official Information Act 1982, I request the following information:
1/ Legal advice and internal correspondence between the Prime Minister and cabinet with Medsafe, the Ministry of Health, or Crown Law concerning the grant of provisional consent to Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine) under s23 of the Medicines Act 1981, including:
2/ Any advice or opinion regarding the requirement in s23 (pre-amendment) that consent be limited to “the treatment of a limited number of patients.”
3/ Any assessment of whether the provisional consent for Comirnaty was intra vires or ultra vires s23. Any briefings to the Minister of Health on this legal risk.
4/ Cabinet papers, Cabinet minutes, and departmental reports relating to the urgent passage of the Medicines Amendment Act 2021 (enacted 19 May 2021), including:
a/ The legal advice justifying the removal of the “limited number of patients” wording.
b/ Any advice about the need for retrospective validation of provisional consents already granted (including Comirnaty).
c/ Any advice on alternative options that were considered but not adopted.
d/ Communications with external regulators (e.g., Australia’s TGA or international regulators) regarding whether provisional consent in New Zealand was consistent with the scope of s23 at the time.
5/ Any risk assessments or ministerial briefings prepared between November 2020 and June 2021 regarding the legality, legal risk, or judicial review exposure of provisional consents under s23.
Yours faithfully,
John Armstrong
From: Information [DPMC]
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Tēnā koe,
Thank you for emailing the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
(DPMC).
DPMC cannot respond to emails that are outside its scope. If the subject
of your email does not relate to the work of DPMC, we may forward your
email to the appropriate Minister or agency who will respond to you
directly. To find out more about DPMC's functions please view our
website [1]https://dpmc.govt.nz.
If your correspondence is intended for the Prime Minister please email his
office at [email address]. Contact information for
other Members of Parliament can be found at
[2]https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involve....
Common questions:
Official Information Act (OIA) requests will be formally acknowledged
during office hours and actioned accordingly. For more information about
the statutory OIA timeframes please see
[3]http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/.
For job opportunities within DPMC see
[4]https://centralagenciesjobs.cass.govt.nz... use this
website to apply for vacancies. Resumes received through other avenues
will not be considered.
New Zealand visas and requests for asylum are managed by Immigration New
Zealand. Please see [5]https://www.immigration.govt.nz/.
We hope one of the above links helps answer your question. Thanks again
and please take care.
Link: [6]File-List
Link: [7]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [8]themeData
Link: [9]colorSchemeMapping
show quoted sections
From: Information [DPMC]
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
[IN-CONFIDENCE]
Kia ora,
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA)
received on 4 October 2025, copied below. We will respond to your request
within the statutory timeframes set out in the Act. If we are unable to
meet these timeframes we will notify you.
Your request will be managed by the Ministerial Services team within DPMC.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact us at
[1][DPMC request email].
DPMC may publish the response to your OIA request. If we publish the
response your personal information, including your name and contact
details, will be removed.
Ngā mihi,
Ministerial Coordinator
Ministerial Services
Strategy, Governance and Engagement
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
E [2][DPMC request email]
The information contained in this email message is for the attention of
the intended recipient only and is not necessarily the official view or
communication of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. If you
are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, copy or distribute
this message or the information in it. If you have received this message
in error, please destroy the email and notify the sender immediately.
show quoted sections
From: Information [DPMC]
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
[UNCLASSIFIED]
Kia ora,
Please see the attached letter regarding your recent OIA request.
Ngā mihi,
Ministerial Coordinator
Ministerial Services
Strategy, Governance and Engagement
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
E [1][DPMC request email]
The information contained in this email message is for the attention of
the intended recipient only and is not necessarily the official view or
communication of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. If you
are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, copy or distribute
this message or the information in it. If you have received this message
in error, please destroy the email and notify the sender immediately.
Link: [2]File-List
Link: [3]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [4]themeData
Link: [5]colorSchemeMapping
show quoted sections
The information contained in this email message is for the attention of
the intended recipient only and is not necessarily the official view or
communication of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. If you
are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, copy or distribute
this message or the information in it. If you have received this message
in error, please destroy the email and notify the sender immediately.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[DPMC request email]
2. file:///tmp/Signature_files/filelist.xml
3. file:///tmp/Signature_files/editdata.mso
4. file:///tmp/Signature_files/themedata.thmx
5. file:///tmp/Signature_files/colorschememapping.xml
6. file:///tmp/Signature_files/filelist.xml
7. file:///tmp/Signature_files/editdata.mso
8. file:///tmp/Signature_files/themedata.thmx
9. file:///tmp/Signature_files/colorschememapping.xml
From: MaSS info
Dear John Arsmtrong
We refer to your request which was transferred from the Department of the
Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) to the Department of Internal Affairs
(the Department) under the Official Information Act (the Act) dated on 14
October 2025.
The following part of your request was transferred to the Department:
“internal correspondence between the Prime Minister and cabinet with
Medsafe, the Ministry of Health, or Crown Law concerning the grant of
provisional consent to Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine) under
s23 of the Medicines Act 1981”
The Department will provide its response to your request as soon as
practicable and within twenty working days. The due date for your request
is 12 November 2025.
The Department is also writing to notify that as your request is broad in
nature, it will require substantial collation and research and therefore
may likely be refused under section 18(f) of the Act. The Department is
required under section 18B of the Act to consult with you about amending
your request to a form that would remove our reasons for refusal.
Furthermore, section 12 of the Act requires official information requested
to be specified with due particularity in the request.
As such, please refine or provide a clarification in relation to your
request by COB 22 October 2025. If we do not receive a refinement from
you, a decision may be made based on the information we hold at hand. If
you would like further assistance in relation to your request, kindly
reply back to this email.
Regards,
Ministerial Services
Partnerships and Commissions Branch
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
[1]www.dia.govt.nz
[2]Logo: Internal Affairs - Te Tari Taiwhenua
References
Visible links
1. http://www.dia.govt.nz/
From: John Armstrong
Dear MaSS info,
Thank you for your response received today, 17 October 2025.
As per section 12 of the Act (as you referenced) requires official information requested
to be specified with due particularity in the request.
My request complies with section 12 as I seek particular information between the PM, cabinet and Medsafe, MoH and Crown law for correspondence, advice, opinion, meetings and legal risk assessment's for the Provisional Consent given to Pfizer for the Covid-19 vaccine under the current (at the time) s23 of the Medicines Act 1981.
This is for the period: October 2020 - June 2021.
Yours sincerely,
John Armstrong
From: MaSS info
Dear John
While the Department's Ministerial Services Group is deemed to hold the records of former Ministers of the Crown, we do not have the ability to perform searches on the parliamentary server where the electronic records are stored. To locate and retrieve information related to former Ministers, we require Parliamentary Service (PS) to conduct the necessary searches on our behalf.
Searches for electronic records on the parliamentary server capture relevant information saved by the Minister or their staff. While the Department provides record-keeping advice regarding their obligations, decisions about what information is retained and stored remain the responsibility of the individual Minister, with support from their office.
As the period from 1 October 2020 to June 2021 is quite broad, using keyword searches such as "Risk assessment," "Provisional consent," "Pfizer," "COVID-19 vaccine," and "Medicines Act" may result in a large volume of email correspondence being returned. This could include media alerts and emails from members of the public where these search terms appear.
Therefore, we kindly ask that you refine the time period for your search to something more specific-e.g., a window of two to four weeks.
Additionally, you may wish to further refine your request by suggesting specific keyword searches within a shorter time period to help us better identify the information you require.
Regards,
Ministerial Services
Partnerships and Commissions Branch
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
http://www.dia.govt.nz/
show quoted sections
From: John Armstrong
Dear MaSS info,
Thank you for your reply. I would suggest that the search keywords remain the same, however you could narrow the time period to the months of February 2021 and May 2021.
Yours sincerely,
John Armstrong
From: MaSS info
Dear John
Thank you for refining your OIA request.
We will attempt to undertake a targeted search of the agreed keywords of "Risk assessment", "Provisional consent", "Pfizer", "COVID-19 vaccine" and "Medicines Act" between 1 February 2021 to 31 May 2025.
Please note, as a refinement/clarification of your OIA request was sought within 7 working days of the original date of request, we have restarted the timeframe to respond to your request from 21 October 2025 onwards.
You have the right to complain to the Ombudsman about this decision. Relevant information about how to make a complaint is available at http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/ or freephone 0800 802 602.
The Department will be in touch with you if were require further clarification.
Regards,
Ministerial Services
Partnerships and Commissions Branch
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
http://www.dia.govt.nz/
show quoted sections
From: MaSS info
Dear John
This email is to inform you of the outcome of the keyword searches conducted in response to your refined request dated 21 October 2025.
The Department commissioned Parliamentary Services to undertake a record search for the email inboxes for Former Prime Minister Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern and Former COVID- 19 Recovery Minister, Rt Hon Chris Hipkins. The search used the following keyword combinations:
"Risk assessment" and "Medicines Act"
"Provisional consent" and "Pfizer"
"Provisional consent" and "COVID-19 vaccine"
The search covered the period from 1 February 2021 to 31 May 2021 and resulted in the identification of 2,172 email chains containing the specified keywords.
As previously advised, processing this volume of information would require significant collation and research. Accordingly, the request may be refused under section 18(f) of the Act due to the substantial administrative burden involved.
To help us avoid refusal and proceed with your request, we kindly ask that you further refine the scope of your request. Please provide your revised request by close of business on 28 October 2025.
Regards,
Ministerial Services
Partnerships and Commissions Branch
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
http://www.dia.govt.nz/
show quoted sections
From: John Armstrong
Dear MaSS info,
Thanks for your response received.
This will be my final amendment to my original request which has now been refined, at your request, numerous times.
Keeping the same time period agreed upon, refine the searches to "Pfizer provisional consent" and "s23 Medicines Act". I await your reply.
Yours sincerely,
John Armstrong
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence (note: this contains the same information already available above).

