Ministry of Health welcomes COVID-19 lessons report

The Ministry of Health has welcomed the publication of the NZ Royal Commission COVID-19 Lessons Learned Final Report, saying it will now work with other public service agencies to prepare advice for the Government on responding to the report’s recommendations.

The Ministry is the Lead Response Agency to the Royal Commission’s Final Report, which was presented to Parliament today, supporting Health Minister Simeon Brown as Lead Response Minister.

“I want to thank all staff from across the health system and beyond who were part of the COVID-19 response, including those that gave evidence to the Inquiry,” said Deputy Director-General, Public Health Agency, Dr Andrew Old.

“I also want to acknowledge the many New Zealanders that gave evidence to the Inquiry about the disruption and suffering they experienced during the pandemic, both because of the virus itself as well as the public health measures introduced to respond to it. As the Inquiry notes, both the pandemic and the response have left scars.

“Phase Two of the Inquiry assessed additional aspects of the response, looking at certain areas in more depth, and has implications across government. We will take time to carefully consider these findings and how they can inform our collective ongoing work to strengthen New Zealand’s preparedness for future pandemics.”

The Commission found that, overall, New Zealand did well in responding to the pandemic, and the decisions taken and methods used during the COVID-19 response were considered and appropriate. In particular, the report highlighted the process for approving COVID-19 vaccines and monitoring safety was robust and effective.

“But it also highlighted areas where the actions of public servants fell short. Specifically, the report highlights a situation where the Commission found expert advice regarding COVID19 vaccine mandates for 12–17-year-olds was delayed in being provided to Ministers or was not clearly communicated to the public in a timely way by the Ministry of Health,” said Dr Old.

“We acknowledge the Commission’s finding that this was a significant failing. We recognise the importance of timely, evidence-based communication for maintaining public trust and confidence. In this instance, the standard was not met. We will be reflecting carefully on this finding, including reviewing our processes to assure ourselves that our advice is being delivered clearly and consistently.

“In this case, the advice was specifically about whether it was justified to impose a vaccine mandate on this age-group, based on the relative risk to health. The advice was not about balancing the overall benefits and risks of the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine for this age group. The Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine remains approved for use in New Zealand, and in many countries, for this age group.   

“Vaccination, including for COVID-19, remains a critical tool for protecting the health of New Zealanders. With New Zealand currently experiencing a rise in COVID-19 in the community, I encourage eligible people, and particularly those at greater risk of poor outcomes from COVID-19 to consider an additional dose,” he said.

Key findings from the Royal Commission include:

• Restrictions were initially balanced, then went too far: COVID-19 restrictions were initially balanced and appropriate but extended beyond what public health advice recommended as the response continued.
• Economic warnings were not heeded: Treasury advised from the outset that pandemic spending should be timely, temporary, and targeted. The $60 billion COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund spanned 821 programmes, around half of which were unrelated to the pandemic. The Commission found that many investments, including shovel-ready projects, did not meet those tests. The spending that followed drove up house prices and the cost of living for New Zealanders.
• Public debt has left New Zealand exposed: The Royal Commission has made it clear that the debt accumulated during the pandemic has left New Zealand with less flexibility to respond to future economic shocks, and that prudent fiscal management is required to rebuild those economic buffers.
• Opportunities to do better were missed: Many opportunities to improve economic decision-making were missed throughout the response, with high-level data failing to capture what was happening on the ground for ordinary New Zealanders.
• Auckland’s lockdown went longer than advice recommended: Auckland was kept in lockdown and separated from the rest of the country for longer than what officials advised was necessary. A former Minister has since acknowledged that the public health benefits of lockdowns did not emphatically outweigh the costs by the end of 2021, despite Auckland and parts of Northland and Waikato being kept in lockdown.
• Vaccine mandate advice for under-18s was not made sufficiently clear: Former Ministers were informed of advice against applying a two-dose vaccine mandates to 12-17 year olds due to myocarditis risks. The two-dose vaccine mandate remained, which did not align with this advice.

“New Zealanders supported the initial 2020 response. Communities came together and made sacrifices, and it protected New Zealanders’ lives. But the Commission has also found that restrictions continued longer than public health advice recommended, and that the economic costs were not given sufficient weight alongside the health response,” said Health Minister, Simeon Brown.

“New Zealanders remember what that period felt like – not being able to visit loved ones in hospital, struggling to get home from overseas, and keeping children home from school for months.

“Aucklanders experienced this more than most, spending more than six months in lockdown, the longest lockdown of any region in the country, separated from family and missing some of life’s most important moments.

“The report also found that the cost of living pressures New Zealanders are still feeling today – and the ongoing lack of social cohesion for some – are part of that story.

“New Zealanders made enormous sacrifices and placed enormous trust in their government. We owe it to them to understand what happened and learn from it,” said the Minister.

The final report can be found on the Commission’s website.north_east.