Kia ora 

 

Thank you for your email. The Ministry of Health is closed from Thursday
23 December 2021—Monday 10 January 2022. We will respond to your email
when the Ministry reopens. Thank you for your patience. 

 

OIA requests

Please note that under the Official information Act 1982, the days from 25
December 2021 to Saturday 15 January 2022 (inclusive), are not ‘working
days’ for the purposes of the law and therefore do not form part of the 20
working days required to respond.  For more information on this, please
visit the OIA calculator at: [1]ombudsman.parliament.nz/

 

COVID-19 information 

·    for information on the Government’s response to the COVID-19
pandemic, please go to [2]covid19.govt.nz 

·    for information about COVID-19 locations of interest:
[3]health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/contact-tracing-covid-19/covid-19-contact-tracing-locations-interest

·    for information on COVID-19 testing sites:
[4]covid19.govt.nz/testing-and-tracing/covid-19-testing/where-to-get-tested/

·    for information on COVID-19 vaccination (including bookings) go to:
[5]health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-vaccines

·    for information on managed isolation, including exemptions from
managed isolation, please go to [6]miq.govt.nz 

 

Emergency services and health information 

·    if you are in an emergency situation, please dial 111 

·    if you require health advice or information, please
call Healthline free 24/7 on 0800 611 116. 

 

Mental health helplines 

If you require [7]mental health assistance please contact one of the
following free national helplines: 

·    1737: free text 24/7. Trained counsellors can offer support for
addiction issues, as well as advice on mental health 

·    the National Depression Helpline: free call 24/7 on 0800 111 757,
text 4202, or online at [8]depression.org.nz 

·    Lifeline: free call 24/7 on 0800 543 354 

·    Samaritans: free call on 0800 726 666. Confidential, non-religious,
and non-judgmental support

 

Ngā mihi 

OIA Services 

 

 

 

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7. http://mentalhealth.org.nz/
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 Kia ora Jeremy,

 

Thank you for your request for official information. The Ministry's
reference number for your request is: H202200079.

 

As required under the Official Information Act 1982, the Ministry will
endeavour to respond to your request no later than 20 working days after
the day your request was received. 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. If
we are unable to respond to your request within this time frame, we will
notify you of an extension of that time frame.

 

If you have any queries related to this request, please do not hesitate to
get in touch.

 

Ngā mihi

 

OIA Services

Government Services

Office of the Director-General

Ministry of Health

E: [2][email address]

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Jeremy Nimmo <[FOI #18043 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 23 December 2021 16:57
To: OIA Requests <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - MOH attempts to overcome vaccine
hesitancy on grounds of objection to abortion
 
Dear Ministry of Health,

All communications, advice, reports, notes, agendas, meeting attendance
lists, minutes, and decision documents relating to:
1) 'Vaccine hesitancy' or 'vaccine avoidance', and the need to overcome
concerns over the use of 'fetal cell' lines in developing, producing, or
testing the vaccines that are available to New Zealanders, to maximize
vaccine coverage.
2) Approval of the various safe and effective vaccines that do not pose
such concerns for people with objections to benefiting from the abortion
of babies, including: the 'Sinopharm' vaccines, 'Covaxin' vaccines, and
'Covidful' vaccines.
This should include any communication to and from public sector agencies
and executives, and ministers on this subject. You only need include
information from 2020 onwards.

For the avoidance of doubt, this should also include but not be limited to
notes of all phone calls, meetings, any text messages, emails, instant
messages, notes in note books or any other medium or form, and phone logs.

Merry Christmas,
Jeremy Nimmo

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #18043 email]

Is [Ministry of Health request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests
to Ministry of Health? If so, please contact us using this form:
[3]https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[4]https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

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This e-mail message has been scanned for Viruses and Content and cleared
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References

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2. mailto:[email address]
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4. https://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&...

Tēnā koe Jeremy,

 

Thank you for your email to the Ministry of Health (the Ministry) on 23
December 2021 for:

 

“… all communications, advice, reports, notes, agendas, meeting attendance
lists, minutes, and decision documents relating to:

1) 'Vaccine hesitancy' or 'vaccine avoidance', and the need to overcome
concerns over the use of 'fetal cell' lines in developing, producing, or
testing the vaccines that are available to New Zealanders, to maximize
vaccine coverage.

2) Approval of the various safe and effective vaccines that do not pose
such concerns for people with objections to benefiting from the abortion
of babies, including: the 'Sinopharm' vaccines, 'Covaxin' vaccines, and
'Covidful' vaccines.

This should include any communication to and from public sector agencies
and executives, and ministers on this subject. You only need include
information from 2020 onwards.

 

For the avoidance of doubt, this should also include but not be limited to
notes of all phone calls, meetings, any text messages, emails, instant
messages, notes in note books or any other medium or form, and phone
logs.”

 

​The Ministry has undertaken a search for any relevant communications or
documents in scope of your request. However, none were located. As such,
your request is refused under section 18(g)(i) as the information
requested is not held by the Ministry and there are no grounds for
believing it is held by another agency subject to the Act.

 

The Ministry note​s your concerns regarding the development process of the
COVID-19 vaccines. While it is true that some of the tests used to confirm
the quality of the vaccines involve using laboratory-developed cell lines
with a very distant historical link to abortion, the vaccine itself does
not contain aborted fetal cells. 

 

This historical link to abortion is so distant that the InterChurch
Bioethics Council has stated that there is “life-saving benefit to all by
being vaccinated against Covid”. You may wish to read the whole statement
here:

[1]www.interchurchbioethics.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ICBC-FAQs-covid-vaccine-.pdf. 

 

Additionally, you may wish to read the following from the Nathaniel
Centre, the bioethics part of the Catholic Church in New Zealand:
[2]www.nathaniel.org.nz/component/content/article/15-bioethical-issues/bioethics-and-health-care/287-ethically-compromised-vaccines-and-catholic-teaching.

 

You can find product details for the vaccines available in New Zealand on
the Medsafe website at the following links:

o [3]www.medsafe.govt.nz/regulatory/ProductDetail.asp?ID=21938 Pfizer
Concentrate for injection 30 µg/0.3 mL (12 years and older) (phosphate
buffer)
o [4]www.medsafe.govt.nz/regulatory/ProductDetail.asp?ID=22858 Pfizer
Solution for injection 30 µg/0.3 mL (tris buffer)
o [5]www.medsafe.govt.nz/regulatory/ProductDetail.asp?ID=22857 Pfizer
Concentrate for injection 10 µg/0.2 mL (tris buffer)
o [6]www.medsafe.govt.nz/regulatory/ProductDetail.asp?ID=22180
AstraZeneca COVID-19

 

Please note, these same cell lines have been used in the testing and
development of other medications, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, Pepto
Bismol, and paracetamol.

 

The Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine has no connection to fetal cell lines. The
Government has made an Advance Purchase Agreement with Novavax for 10.72
million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. It is important to note that this
purchase is conditional upon the vaccine receiving regulatory approval
from Medsafe. Medsafe is currently evaluating the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine
application, and a timeframe for completion of the assessment process is
unknown at this stage. Consideration and subsequent planning for the
administration of the Novavax vaccine, including confirmation of delivery
dates, is dependent on Medsafe’s approval of Novavax’s application. As
such, I cannot comment on the availability of the Novavax vaccine at this
stage. More information about Medsafe’s approval process can be found on
Medsafe’s website at
[7]www.medsafe.govt.nz/COVID-19/vaccine-approval-process.asp.

 

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

 

Nāku noa, nā

 

OIA Services

Government Services

Office of the Director-General

Ministry of Health

E: [9][email address]

 

 

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References

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http://www.interchurchbioethics.org.nz/w...
2. http://www.nathaniel.org.nz/component/co...
3. http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/regulatory/Pr...
4. http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/regulatory/Pr...
5. http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/regulatory/Pr...
6. http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/regulatory/Pr...
7. http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/COVID-19/vacc...
8. mailto:[email address]
9. 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

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3. mailto:[email address]

Kia ora Jeremy,

 

We conducted a search across multiple teams but despite reasonable efforts
were unable to identify any information within scope of your request.

 

Ngā mihi,

 

OIA Services

Government Services

Office of the Director-General

Ministry of Health

E: [1][email address]

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Jeremy Nimmo <[2][FOI #18043 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 1 February 2022 17:21
To: OIA Requests <[3][email address]>
Subject: Re: Your request for information, ref: H202200079

 

Dear OIA Requests,

I have no interest in the position of the various established churches
referenced, or any church for that matter.

Are you telling me that the MoH has not produced any 'communications,
advice, reports, notes, agendas, meeting attendance lists, minutes, and
decision documents' regarding concerns over the use of 'fetal cell' lines?

Regards,
Jeremy

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Kia ora Jeremy,

 

On 23 December you requested:

 

“… all communications, advice, reports, notes, agendas, meeting attendance
lists, minutes, and decision documents relating to: 'Vaccine hesitancy' or
'vaccine avoidance', and the need to overcome concerns over the use of
'fetal cell' lines in developing, producing, or testing the vaccines that
are available to New Zealanders, to maximize vaccine coverage.”

 

The Ministry was unable to locate any information in scope of this point
of your request.

 

Please note, the Ministry has not stated 1 February was the first
communication, advice, report, note, agenda, minutes, or decision document
the Ministry of Health had generated in regards the use of fetal cell
lines in the COVID vaccines that had been procured.

 

You may then be interested in the below communication. The team here have
advised this was released on 6 April 2021.  

 

“We respectfully understand that vaccines derived from or tested in
aborted foetal tissue is an ethical dilemma for some people. The following
link gives a really clear description around animal and human cell lines
that are used in vaccine development and how they were derived.

[1]http://www.nathaniel.org.nz/component/co...

 

In the New Zealand Immunisation schedule those vaccines developed from
human diploid cells are MMR (rubella component), vaccines that contain
polioviruses, chickenpox and shingles vaccines.

 

With regards to the Pfizer vaccine, no foetal cell lines were used in its
production and the vaccine doesn’t contain any cells from aborted
foetuses. However, as you have said, cultures of the HEK293T/17 cell lines
(which originated from a foetus that was aborted in the Netherlands in
1973) were used to test whether cells would produce the spike protein when
exposed to the vaccine (which it did).

 

As you have noted, there are vaccines for COVID-19 that have not used
foetal cell lines in their development and/or testing; however, none of
these vaccines have been procured for use in New Zealand. The only vaccine
we have for use in New Zealand is the Pfizer one and there are not yet
plans to procure any other.”

 

Ngâ mihi,

 

OIA Services

Government Services

Office of the Director-General

Ministry of Health

E: [2][email address]

 

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Jeremy Nimmo <[3][FOI #18043 email]>
Sent: Sunday, 10 April 2022 08:59
To: OIA Requests <[4][email address]>
Subject: RE: Your request for information, ref: H202200079

 

Dear OIA Requests,

I will reiterate.

Are you seriously, in good faith, representing that your email from
February the 1st was the first communication, advice, report, note,
agenda, minutes, or decision document the Ministry of Health had generated
in regards the use of fetal cell lines in the COVID vaccines that had been
procured?

Yours sincerely,
Jeremy Nimmo

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