False Claims of COVID-19 Vaccine Deaths in New Zealand Debunked
A former journalist and minor party political candidate in New Zealand has made false claims of tens of thousands of deaths linked to COVID-19 vaccinations in the country. However, New Zealand’s health authorities have debunked these claims, stating that they are baseless and unsupported by evidence.
The New Zealand Ministry of Health, the country’s public health agency, and vaccine experts have all refuted the allegations made by the former journalist. They emphasized that adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines are closely monitored, and only four deaths have been linked to the vaccines.
The former journalist, Ms. Gunn, failed to provide any evidence for her claims, stating that her information came from unnamed whistleblowers. She asserted that the data shows tens of thousands of deaths linked to the vaccines, citing clusters of deaths occurring at the same vaccination sites on the same day. However, New Zealand health authorities clarified that there is no record of such deaths.
Christian Marchello, the vaccine safety surveillance and research manager at Health New Zealand, stated that there is no evidence to suggest that COVID-19 vaccination has caused excess mortality in the country. He confirmed that publicly available data indicates that only four deaths in New Zealand could possibly be linked to adverse reactions following COVID-19 vaccination.
The Immunisation Advisory Centre, which is responsible for coordinating immunization programs and research, dismissed the claim of death clusters at vaccination clinics as fiction. They emphasized that any clusters of deaths or adverse reactions would be urgently investigated to determine their cause. They also reiterated that there is no evidence to support the claim made in the video of 30 people dying after vaccination at one clinic.
New Zealand’s Center for Adverse Reactions Monitoring (CARM) and Medsafe investigate reported deaths following any vaccination. The COVID-19 Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board (CV-ISMB) reviews all serious vaccine reactions, including deaths. MedSafe reported that up until November 30, 2022, a total of 184 deaths were reported to CARM following the Comirnaty (Pfizer) vaccine. However, medical assessments concluded that 163 of these deaths were unlikely to be related to the vaccine, while 15 were unable to be assessed due to insufficient information.
The vaccine-related deaths were put into context by Dr. Marchello, who highlighted that more than 12.6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in New Zealand. In comparison, 3361 deaths have been directly attributed to COVID-19 in the country. The medical director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre, Nikki Turner, expressed concern over the disinformation spread by the video, stressing the need for evidence to substantiate such allegations.
It is crucial to note that experts have previously affirmed the accuracy of published statistics on adverse reactions and deaths following vaccination. Claims without supporting evidence can have a detrimental impact by spreading false information that undermines public confidence in vaccination efforts.
In conclusion, the false claims of tens of thousands of deaths linked to COVID-19 vaccines in New Zealand have been debunked by the country’s health authorities. They have emphasized the importance of evidence-based information and the thorough investigation of reported deaths following vaccinations. The data shows that only four deaths have been possibly linked to adverse reactions from COVID-19 vaccines.
