The Covid vaccine and the risk to under 18s: Chris Hipkins defends not making advice public

Labour leader Chris Hipkins is defending not sharing advice on the risks of two vaccine doses for under 18s with the public during the pandemic.  He told the Herald that health practitioners were passing on the latest information to those showing up for a vaccine jab.  His comments follow revelations in the Herald that the former Covid Response Minister was made aware of the potential vaccine risks in March 2022, when tens of thousands of 12- 17-year-olds had yet to get a second jab.  The risks were outlined in advice from the Covid-19 Vaccine Technical Advisory Group (CV TAG) in December 2021, which was about workers under 18 who needed two doses to comply with vaccine mandates.  It raised the possibility of “unnecessary risk” of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) following a second dose of the vaccine. It recommended considering changing the mandated requirements - for the 12-17 age group - from two vaccine doses to one.  The Phase Two report from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Covid-19 response said the advice was never delivered to ministers, but a Cabinet paper in Hipkins’ name shows that he was aware of the advice in March 2022.  New Zealand First leader Winston Peters and Health Minister Simeon Brown have questioned why Hipkins didn’t make the information public.  At the time, 92% of the 12-17 age group - a population of 350,000 to 400,000 - had had two doses of the vaccine. That translates to about 30,000 young people yet to have a second dose.  NZ First leader Winston Peters delivers his State of the Nation speech in Tauranga, March 22 2026, Photos / Supplied Hipkins told the Herald that sharing medical advice around vaccinations was not his area.  “In terms of my conscience, I never communicated medical advice around vaccination. That was always done by relevant health practitioners, including the director-general of health and the director of public health.  “I did not communicate, at any point, right the way through, that information other than reiterating the high-level messages around making sure you’re making informed decisions and consulting with medical practitioners.”  Those were the professionals who were talking about the myocarditis risks with people showing up to be vaccinated, he said.  “They were being given the most up to-date information, every day. I understand parents’ concern. I’m a parent myself.  “I’m very annoyed that we didn’t get given the relevant [CV TAG] advice at the time [in December 2021] ... it’s a source of considerable frustration to me because it would have been material. Certainly, the fact it didn’t go to ministers until March was a massive failing on the part of the system as a whole.”  Would he then have made it public, if he had received the advice in December 2021? Or recommend changing the relevant vaccine passes and mandates to reflect the advice, which happened once it landed in his office in March 2022?  “Those are all hypothetical things. I can’t say for certainty what the decision would have been. But it almost certainly would have resulted in more questions being asked.”  He added that, by then, most of the mandates had already required the relevant workers to be double vaccinated.  “So it wasn’t sort of material information at that point.”  In December 2021, experts advised against mandating two vaccine doses for the 12-17 age group with respect to various vaccine mandates. Photo / 123RF Peters has accused Hipkins of denying he was aware of the CV TAG advice - to the Royal Commission and, after its report landed, in the House - when he knew he had received it.  “It is an outrageous situation where many tens of thousands of children and teenagers were exposed to the known risks of having two vaccine doses yet the public, and more importantly the parents, were not told, Peters said.  “It is alarming that the Inquiry did not come to this obvious and pr...

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