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Summarised by Centrist
A 9 December 2021 Ministry of Health memo from CV TAG chair and chief science adviser Dr Ian Town to Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield, copied to several senior health officials, warned that younger age groups were at greater risk of myocarditis after a second Pfizer dose and said the risk profile did not justify a two-dose mandate for those under 18.
In a post on X, Winston Peters said: “This information was not made public by Labour ministers or officials,” and claimed ministers “were aware of it but never shared it with the public and even continued the mandates”. He said they had been “advised clearly about the myocarditis health risks and the recommendation to stop the double-dose mandates for children”.
“When is Labour going to be held accountable?” he asks.
The document states that “younger age groups are more at risk than older age groups of myocarditis after the second dose of Pfizer vaccine” and says “consideration should be given to permitting younger people who have had one dose to be permitted to work or undertake other activities covered by the mandate”.
It also says the risk of severe disease for young people was “very low”, that risks of transmission among under 18s were “insufficient to justify mandating a 2 dose schedule”, and that requiring certificates for children could create “unintended consequences such as exclusion from educational activities”.
The document is also likely to strengthen demands from some vaccine-injured families and political critics for a more serious accountability process, with questions now turning to whether officials who received the memo buried advice that cut against the mandate regime.
