Then-Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins is facing renewed scrutiny after a Cabinet paper surfaced contradicting his claim that he never received advice about potential risks tied to a second Covid-19 vaccine dose for teenagers.
The development follows findings from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Covid-19 response, which stated that advice about a possible “unnecessary risk” of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) linked to second doses for teens was not delivered to ministers.
However, a Cabinet paper dated March 2022, in Hipkins’ name, shows that advice was in fact included.
It suggested reviewing whether existing vaccine mandates for the 12–17 age group should be adjusted from requiring two doses to just one.
The coalition government is now questioning why the advice wasn’t disclosed publicly, although it remains unclear what effect this may have had on 12–17-year-olds—or their parents—who had not yet received a second vaccine dose.
Labour’s response to pressure from the government has relied on the Royal Commission’s report, which stated, “Ministers we interviewed could not recall receiving that advice, nor is there any evidence it was provided to them in the material we obtained from agencies.”
However, Hipkins’ Cabinet paper suggests he was aware of the advice, which was circulated to Cabinet colleagues at a Cabinet Social Wellbeing Committee meeting (though he is not recorded as being present in the minutes of that March 2022 meeting).
At the time, 92% of 12–17-year-olds—a group numbering between 350,000 and 400,000—had received two vaccine doses, leaving roughly 30,000 young people still without their second dose.
The discrepancy has fuelled criticisms from voices across the political spectrum about the transparency of the Labour government’s handling of pandemic data and public health advice.
“Parents deserve confidence that decisions are evidence-based, that the advice behind them is visible, and that ministers are being open with the public,” Health Minister Simeon Brown said.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters called it outrageous that tens of thousands of children faced the known risks of two vaccine doses without parents or the public being informed.