Winston Peters demands Covid-19 vaccine injury inquiry after Royal Commission report

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has slammed the Labour Party’s pandemic response, calling for a select committee inquiry into Covid-19 vaccine injuries.

Peters called the inquiry a “disgrace to a modern-day democracy”.

This comes after the Royal Commission’s Covid-19 inquiry report was released yesterday, which noted advice given to the Ministry of Health in late 2021.

The COVID-19 Vaccine Technical Advisory Group advised in November 2021 that “younger aged groups are more at risk than older age groups of myocarditis after the second dose of Pfizer vaccine”.

It further noted in December “the two-dose schedule, particularly when administered in the shortest possible clinical timeframe, may add unnecessary risk to increasing the likelihood of myocarditis as an outcome in this population”.

During this period, vaccine mandates and limitations for those who did not hold a vaccine pass were in force.

The report revealed this later advice was not provided to ministers or to the 12-17-year-olds who were subject to the vaccine requirement, a failure the commission describes as “significant”.

Peters said in Parliament’s Question Time the report made it clear “hundreds of thousands” of young people could have been impacted as a consequence of the double dose.

The Royal Commission found it is not clear how many 12–17-year-olds chose to comply with a two-dose mandate.

“This report has also brought to light a number of other concerning issues, including the fact that advice was not shared with the public about the risks involved with the double-dose vaccine mandates for 12 to 17-year-olds,” NZ First said in a statement.

Peters said the treatment of the report yesterday was “disgusting”.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that there were detrimental effects caused by our Covid response,” New Zealand First said.

It also said the report did not go far enough into the effects of vaccine safety, the risks involved and who has been affected.

The Royal Commission said that as of January 2025, ACC had accepted 1740 claims for injuries related to Covid-19 vaccines, out of 4318 claims, including five fatal-injury claims.

Medsafe advice says myocarditis and pericarditis after Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine are very rare, and most cases are mild.

When asked about whether he supported the need for a select committee inquiry, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told NZME the “serious questions” should be directed to Labour.

Earlier, former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern and ex-Finance Minister Grant Robertson responded to the report with a joint statement saying it was “consistent with the first report”, commissioned by Labour.

“We got a lot right. More than most. But there are areas that could have been better,” they said.

“We accept the overall findings and recommendations of both reports.”

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