Panel meetings and minutes for clause 12A covid19 vaccination exemptions
Erika Whittome made this Official Information request to Ministry of Health
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From: Erika Whittome
Dear Ministry of Health,
Another response to an OIA lists all the exemptions not to be vaccinated under clause 12A of the Covid-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021. These are recorded in this document https://fyi.org.nz/request/25319/respons...
Please share the full meeting minutes for the following "Panel Assessment Dates" (column 3 of the above pdf) of these clause 12A (service disruption exemptions)
1. November 2021 on 13,14, 15,16,17,18,22, 24 and 29th.
2. December 2021 on 1,3,6,10,14 and 20th
3. January 2022 on 11 and 18th.
4. February 2022 on 15 22 and 23th
5. March 2022 on 1st.
6. Please include the minutes of the decision to abandon exemptions for individuals and instead to accept applications for exceptions for groups of people made by PCBU.
7. Please share further details on the column "Other" which contains various objections for being vaccinated such as "Religion", "Health", "Family", "Vaccine Concern", "Vaccine Trial", "Freedom of choice" for not getting vaccinated.
Yours faithfully,
Erika Whittome
From: OIA Requests
Kia ora Erika,
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act), received by the Ministry of Health on 22 December 2025. You
requested:
"Please share the full meeting minutes for the following "Panel Assessment
Dates" (column 3 of the above pdf) of these clause 12A (service disruption
exemptions)
1. November 2021 on 13,14, 15,16,17,18,22, 24 and 29th.
2. December 2021 on 1,3,6,10,14 and 20th
3. January 2022 on 11 and 18th.
4. February 2022 on 15 22 and 23th
5. March 2022 on 1st.
6. Please include the minutes of the decision to abandon exemptions for
individuals and instead to accept applications for exceptions for groups
of people made by PCBU.
7. Please share further details on the column "Other" which contains
various objections for being vaccinated such as "Religion", "Health",
"Family", "Vaccine Concern", "Vaccine Trial", "Freedom of choice" for not
getting vaccinated."
The reference number for your request is H2025077226. As required under
the Act, the Ministry will endeavour to respond to your request no later
than 20 working days after the day your request was
received: [1]http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/.
Please be advised that due dates for requests received on 27 November 2025
onwards will take into account the summer holiday period (25 December 2025
to 15 January 2026). Please refer to this guide for an explanation of
the [2]statutory obligations under the Official Information Act 1982.
If you have any queries related to this request, please do not hesitate to
get in touch ([3][email address]).
Ngā mihi,
OIA Services Team
Ministry of Health | Manatū Hauora
M[4]inistry of Health information releases
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From: mohoia
Tēnā koe,
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act) to the Ministry of Health-Manatū Hauora on 22 December 2025 for:
Please share the full meeting minutes for the following "Panel Assessment
Dates" (column 3 of the above pdf) of these clause 12A (service disruption
exemptions)
1. November 2021 on 13,14, 15,16,17,18,22, 24 and 29th.
2. December 2021 on 1,3,6,10,14 and 20th
3. January 2022 on 11 and 18th.
4. February 2022 on 15 22 and 23th
5. March 2022 on 1st.
6. Please include the minutes of the decision to abandon exemptions for
individuals and instead to accept applications for exceptions for groups
of people made by PCBU.
7. Please share further details on the column "Other" which contains
various objections for being vaccinated such as "Religion", "Health",
"Family", "Vaccine Concern", "Vaccine Trial", "Freedom of choice" for not
getting vaccinated.
Your request asks for information which is more closely connected with the
functions of AGENCY. For this reason, the Ministry has decided to transfer
your request to Health New Zealand under section 14(b)(ii) of the Act. You
can expect a response from their agency in due course. Their contact email
is: [email address].
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: [1][email address] or by calling 0800
802 602.
Ngā mihi
OIA Services
Corporate Services | Te Pou Tiaki
Ministry of Health | Manatū Hauora
īmēra: [2][email address]
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References
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1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
From: hnzOIA
Kia ora Erika,
Thank you for your request for information regarding Significant Service
Disruption (SSD) exemptions. Please find attached our response to your
request.
If you have any questions, please get in touch at
[1][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 [2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi,
Stephanie
Government Services (OIA)
[3][email address]
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
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From: Erika Whittome
Dear hnzOIA,
Thank you for referring me to HNZ00035461 , however this response only has minutes for the following 3 meetings:
13 November 2021.pdf
14 November 2021.pdf
15 November 2021.pdf
this OIA requested is for more dates that those 3 days in November 2021.
Would you please share the remainder of the following panel minutes?
1. November 2021 on 16,17,18,22, 24 and 29th.
2. December 2021 on 1,3,6,10,14 and 20th
3. 3. January 2022 on 11 and 18th.
4. February 2022 on 15 22 and 23th
5. March 2022 on 1st.
Yours sincerely,
Erika Whittome
From: hnzOIA
Kia ora Erika,
Thank you for your email.
HNZ00035461 provided separate documents containing the meeting minutes for
meetings held on 13 November 2021, 14 November 2021, and 15 November 2021.
In addition to these three meetings, a further 43 Panel meetings were held
between 17 November 2021 and 23 August 2022, during which approximately
400 applications were reviewed. The Panel considered all applications, and
feedback was recorded in a register. The non-confidential content from
this register was released to you as Appendix One with HNZ00035461, in
accordance with section 16(1)(e) of the Official Information Act (OIA).
Please note that no meetings were held on 16 November 2021 or 6 December
2021.
We consider that we have provided you with all information in scope of
your request. Any further requests on this same matter may be considered
vexatious and could be refused under section 18(h) of the OIA.
Ngā mihi,
Stephanie
Government Services (OIA)
[1][email address]
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
------------------- Original Message
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From: Erika Whittome
Dear hnzOIA,
I have received some meeting minutes but not all. This request for information is for several meeting minutes, not the content of a register which was supplied when not requested.
Your response says " 43 Panel meetings were held".
When you say "Please note that no meetings were held on 16 November 2021 or 6 December
2021" , these dates are in actual fact, in the content of register in the column "Panel assessment date" .
The dates in that register for panel assessment dates for which minutes have not been shared are
1. November 2021 on 16,17,18,22, 24 and 29th.
2. December 2021 on 1,3,6,10,14 and 20th
3. 3. January 2022 on 11 and 18th.
4. February 2022 on 15 22 and 23th
5. March 2022 on 1st.
One would assume that each panel assessment would have meeting minutes of that panel. The dates in my original request for information are based on the dates that are in that column.
Under the Act, I request the other meeting minutes for dates in my previous update. If the minutes do not exist, kindly say so. You said 'The non-confidential content from this register was released to you as Appendix One with HNZ00035461".
If the minutes are confidential content, kindly respond to this request for information under the act.
Yours sincerely,
Erika Whittome
From: hnzOIA
Tçnâ koe,
Thank you for your email.
Under the Official Information Act (OIA), agencies are required to respond
to requests for official information as soon as reasonably practicable and
no later than 20 working days after receiving them.
If your request is for data that Health NZ holds, have you checked
[1]Lighthouse first to see if the data you are seeking is already
published?
Lighthouse is a searchable catalogue that makes a range of data and
analytics products available to New Zealanders to enable easier, faster
access to insights about health services.
You can find further information about how OIA timeframes are calculated,
including the Ombudsman’s OIA calculator, at the link below:
[2]Official information calculators | Ombudsman New Zealand
We will provide a response to your request in line with the statutory
timeframes set out in the OIA.
We appreciate your understanding and patience during this time.
Ngâ mihi,
Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora
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