The Ministry of Health is investigating claims a man received 10 Covid-19 vaccine doses in one day.
Photo: RNZ // Angus Dreaver
Stuff has reported that the man was getting vaccinated on behalf of other people and is understood to have visited several vaccination centres and was paid for the jabs.
Covid-19 vaccine and immunisation programme group manager operations Astrid Koornneef said the ministry is taking this matter very seriously, and is working with the appropriate agencies.
She said people who have had more doses than recommended should seek clinical advice as soon as practicable.
"Having an inaccurate vaccination status not only puts you at risk, it puts your friends, whānau and community at risk, and the healthcare teams that treat you now in the future.
"Medical practitioners operate in a high-trust environment and rely on people to act in good faith to share information accurately to assist with their treatment."
She said assuming another person's identity and receiving medical treatment was dangerous.
"This puts at risk the person who receives a vaccination under an assumed identify and the person whose health record will show they have been vaccinated when they have not.
"If a person was to receive a vaccination under an assumed identify their own personal health record would not reflect that they were vaccinated. This could affect how their health is managed in the future."
Vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris said there is no data on what the effects of so many doses could be.
"What we could probably say is that you up your risk of not just reactions, but you know perhaps potentially some more severe reactions, when you're doing something like that - and 10 doses is a lot."
Petousis-Harris said a person paying someone to get a vaccine in their place is disgusting.
The ministry did not respond to RNZ's query about when and where this happened.