Te Ao Māori / Covid 19

Covid-19: Ministry of Health ordered to reconsider refusal to share Māori vaccine info

23:16 pm on 1 November 2021

The Ministry of Health has been ordered to reconsider its refusal to share Māori Covid-19 vaccine information with the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency.

(File image) Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

The agency went to the High Court to try and get access to individual-level data, to better target Māori who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19.

In a judgment released this evening, Justice Gwyn set aside the ministry's decision.

She said the ministry's power to disclose information under the health privacy code - in the context of the Covid-19 vaccination programme - must be exercised in accordance with Te Tiriti principles.

Justice Gwyn said the ministry must urgently retake its decision, within three working days.