Weekly Newsletter

InLandsAirWater Counsel – Weekly Newsletter
Consent Without Evidence?

What we asked

We asked Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) a simple question:

How was informed consent actually carried out during the COVID-19 vaccination programme?

Not policy. Not guidelines. What actually happened in real life.

What they told us

The official response (23 April 2026) shows not what was verified — but what was not recorded.

No proof consent was consistently given

Consent forms and information materials existed, but there is no evidence they were consistently used, no record they were given to each person, and no record they were explained.

No central record of consent

Consent forms were held by individual providers. Health NZ does not hold them, and no system recorded consent discussions. There is no central oversight or audit trail.

No tracking of information given

Materials were available online or printable, but there is no record of who received them, no requirement they be handed out, and no tracking system.

No standardised explanation

There was no standard script, no required wording, and no defined set of risks that must be explained. Vaccinators relied on their own judgement.

No audit of consent conversations

There were no audits of what was said. Systems recorded vaccination events, not the consent behind them.

Safety monitoring without fixed triggers

Adverse events were reported through Medsafe systems, but there were no predefined thresholds for stopping or adjusting the programme.