Publication date: 18 September 2023
This summary follows a Chief Ombudsman investigation into 17 complaints about Manatū Hauora - the Ministry of Health, the Minister for COVID-19 Response and Minister of Finance’s refusal to release copies of contracts between the Government and pharmaceutical companies for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines.
In his final opinion on 18 June 2023, the Ombudsman agreed there were good reasons to withhold the contracts under sections 9(2)(b)(ii) 9(2)(ba)(ii) and 9(2)(c) of the Official Information Act 1982, which relate to commercial sensitivities and protecting the public interest. The Ombudsman found releasing the full contracts “would risk compromising the Government’s ability to secure agreements to purchase Covid-19 vaccines”.
However, to address the unprecedented public interest the Ombudsman recommended the development of a summary statement with information on the COVID-19 vaccine procurement process and the nature of the commitments made by the Government across all the contracts.
The summary has been developed by Manatū Hauora, Pharmac and Treasury in consultation with vaccine suppliers Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Novavax and Janssen.
The summary outlines the significant uncertainty in mid 2020 around whether an effective COVID-19 vaccine was possible, what technologies would need to be involved in its creation, possible side effects, and the ability for global suppliers to manufacturing at scale and pace. This led New Zealand to invest, through Advanced Purchase Agreements, in a portfolio of different vaccines to manage the risk that any one vaccine might be ineffective, unavailable, or unsuitable. This ensured New Zealanders had access to early vaccines at a time of high global demand.
This summary includes an overview of New Zealand’s approach to purchasing COVID-19 vaccines and terms agreed to across all the contracts in relation to the following issues:
- Confidentiality commitments
- Indemnities / exclusions from liability
- Warranties
- Safety and efficacy
- Donations to other nations
- Clauses relating to supply, and obligations to purchase
- Any terms sought exclusivity, or to limit New Zealand’s ability to purchase other COVID-19 vaccines or treatments
- The financial liabilities the Government assumed at the point of signing the contracts.
Under these purchasing contracts, certain details and contractual terms of the vaccine supply remain confidential and are therefore unable to be fully shared or described.
For each vaccine, the evidential and scientific information in relation to safety, efficacy and quality was submitted to Medsafe. Approval status of COVID-19 vaccines applications received by Medsafe can be found on the Medsafe website.
The full summary statement is available from the downloads section of this page.