support for ongoing vaccination efforts, testing, contact tracing, and support for māori infected with covid-19. on 10 december 2021, director-general of health bloomfield agreed to release more of the health ministry's data on unvaccinated māori in the north island following two judicial reviews. bloomfield agreed to provide the commissioning agency and whānau tahi with information relating to all unvaccinated māori in the northland, hawke's bay, and whanganui regions but with a reduced amount of information on those living in wairarapa, the lakes district health board and the bay of plenty as several of the iwi (tribes) in those areas opposed the release of the data to the commissioning agency, or were interested in a data-matching agreement with the health ministry. in response, whānau ora commissioning agency chief john tamihere claimed that the release of the information data was "too little, too late" and accused the health ministry of obstruction. on 19 january 2022, tamihere stated that the whānau ora commissioning agency was planning to pursue legal action against the health ministry to force the release of data on unvaccinated māori children between the ages of five and 11 years old. since the rollout of the pfizer vaccine to children in that age group in mid january 2022, whānau ora has sought to boost māori vaccination rates across different age groups. after failing to convince the health ministry to release the data on māori children, whānau ora confirmed that it was exploring taking its case against the health ministry to the high court, waitangi tribunal or the human rights commission. in response, the health ministry's national immunisation programme director astrid koornneef stated that previous high court rulings did not consider the sharing of personal contact information and vaccination status of children. she added that the ministry would continue to consult māori leaders, stakeholders, service providers (including whānau ora), the office of the children's commissioner (occ) and the privacy commissioner about sharing children's personal data. pasifika vaccination rates by 21 september 2021, stuff reported that only 29% of the 80,000 eligible members of the samoan community had been vaccinated. according to figures released by the northern region health co-ordination centre (nrhcc) on 12 september, 23,791 of samoans living in the auckland metropolitan area had been fully vaccinated and a further 21,342 had received their first dose of the pfizer vaccine. more than 35,000 had not been vaccinated. in response, samoan community leaders launched a drive-through campaign to increase vaccination rates within that community. by 31 october, 85% of pacific islanders had received at least one dose while 69% had received both doses. quality issues on 7 march 2022, the southern district health board acknowledged that 1,500 people who had received the pfizer covid-19 vaccine in the queenstown lakes and central otago between 1 december 2021 and 28 january 2022 may not be fully protected since their doses were stored at an incorrect temperature. the affected provider has ceased providing vaccination services while awaiting the results of an investigation. queenstown lakes district mayor jim boult expressed disappointment with the vaccine storage issues and urged affected individuals to get a replacement dose. rural vaccination rates on 13 october 2021, a university of otago study found that covid-19 vaccination rates in rural areas was lower than urban areas. the number of people who have had at least one vaccine does was 11% lower in rural areas and up to 19% lower in remote rural areas compared with urban centers. the study also found that the rural māori rate for having one dose was 10% lower than urban māori. the study also identified longer driving times within rural areas and lower access to vaccination services as factors affecting lower rural vaccination rates. jamie mcfadden, owner of plant nursery hurunui natives, also attributed the lower vaccination rater among farmers to work-related time constraints. to address low vaccination rates in the south island's west coast, a new mobile clinic was established to cater to whitebait fishermen and local farmers. supply issues in late october 2021, a stuff report identified inflexible bookings and miscommunication as factors in deterring people from getting vaccinated. the report also found that māori were uncomfortable with the online booking system due to their reluctance to share information and preferred a walk-in system. in mid december 2022, radio new zealand reported that a batch of 592,000 pfizer covd-19 vaccine doses were set to expire by 31 january 2022, citing figures released by te whatu ora (health new zealand). about 64,000 vaccines are given out each month. the health ministry has asked pfizer about extending the expiry dates of some batches. vaccinologist helen petousis-harris attributed the stalled booster uptake to a combination of vaccination fatigue and increased infection rates which meant that infected people could not receive vaccine doses. on 28 march 2023, te whatu ora confirmed that it had destroyed 870,000 stocks of expired pfizer covid-19 vaccine doses with another 570,000 doses scheduled to be destroyed on 31 march. threats and violence on 31 october 2021, the pasefika family health group in panmure, auckland was vandalised following a successful community vaccination event. in addition, staff received online abuse and threats from anti-vaxxers. on 13 december 2021, a dunedin nurse named lauren bransgrove was referred by the nursing council of new zealand to a professional conduct committee after making violent threats on the social media app telegram against covid-19 vaccinators and medical professionals prior to the government's planned vaccination of children between the ages of 5 and 11 years. bransgrove had also participated in anti-lockdown protests organised by anti-vaccination group voices for freedom in dunedin. following media coverage, bransgrove apologised for her post and promised not to harass vaccinators. in addition, the medical council of new zealand, the accident compensation corporation (acc), health ministry, and police confirmed that they were aware of her posts and conducting their own separate investigations. in january 2021, radio new zealand reported that bransgrove had been removed from the nursing council's public register, preventing her from practising medicine. in addition, she was dismissed from her job as a clinical advisor at acc. on 27 december 2021, the police launched an investigation of destiny church leader brian tamaki after he threatened to blow up mobile vaccination clinics in opposition to the rollout of covid-19 vaccines to children between the ages of 5 and 11. according to the new zealand herald, tamaki had made this alleged threat during a sermon held on 26 december, which was uploaded on destiny church's website. at the time, tamaki was on bail pending trial for staging several anti-lockdown protests in auckland in defiance of covid-19 public health orders. on 8 february the te kaika vaccination and testing centre in st kilda, dunedin was targeted by anti-vaccination vandals, who spray painted the containers and facilities with anti-vaccination messages. te kaika chief executive albie laurence estimated that the graffiti would cost the community health trust nz$50,000 to clean up. the previous year, vandals had targeted the te taika vaccination and testing centre, causing nz$16,000 in damages. unvaccinated residents and permanent residents in mid april 2022, a group called "the forgotten of new zealand" threatened to take legal action against the government over its ban on unvaccinated resident and permanent resident visa holders from entering the country. due to the relaxation of border restrictions, unvaccinated new zealand citizens were allowed to enter the country. the groups' lawyer matthew hague claimed there was no risk to changing the policy since all travellers entering new zealand were tested and the high number of community cases. in response, epidemiologist michael baker expressed concerns that allowing more unvaccinated travellers to enter the country would increase the transmission of covid-19 . covid-19 response minister chris hipkins indicated that the country's covid-19 border policies were being reviewed. paul hunt of the human rights commission urged the government to reconsider its ban on unvaccinated permanent residents from entering the country. in early may 2022, hipkins announced that unvaccinated visa holders, permanent residents, and australian citizens residing in new zealand would be able to travel to and from the country without having to undergo managed isolation and quarantine (miq). he cited the lower health risks of overseas transmission and new zealand's high vaccination rate as the basis of the government's relaxation of border entry restrictions. vaccine hesitancy in early november 2021, several educational leaders expressed concerns about vaccine hesitancy among teachers and early childhood workers. secondary principals association president vaughan couillault and principals federation president perry rush estimated that there were 2,000 vaccine hesitant teachers within the secondary schools sector. rush also reported that anti-vax medical personnel including osteopaths, homeopaths, general practitioners, physiotherapists, and midwives were issuing bogus vaccine exemption certificates to teaching staff. te rito maioha early childhood new zealand chief executive kathy wolfe said that her sector had only receive a few queries about "resisters." in response to staff presenting vaccine certificates, the post primary principals association president melanie webber sought clarification from the government on how to deal with vaccine hesitant staff. the royal new zealand college of general practitioners also warned members not to issue further vaccine certificates until the health ministry and immunisation advisory centre addressed an "apparent loophole" in the rules that dealt with "unspecified health issues." under new zealand law, any health practitioner registered under the health practitioners competence assurance act 2003 including general practitioners, dentists, podiatrists and midwives can provide exemption certificates. in october 2021, the medical council of new zealand (mcnz) launched an investigation of sophie febery, a general practitioner at the methven medical centre in mid canterbury who had espoused anti-covid-19 vaccination views and unsuccessfully attempted to import ivermectin. febery had previously been barred from seeing patients face-to-face for refusing to get vaccinated and participated in an anti-vaccination rally organised by the freedoms and rights coalition. on 3 november 2021, the voices for freedom activist group organised an event at newbury school in palmerston north for people seeking vaccine exemptions. however, the school and ministry of education subsequently declined to allow voices for freedom to use its facilities, prompting the cancellation of the event. social media posts promoting the event claimed that "registered practitioners" were selling vaccine certificates for $10 for individuals and $20 for families. a similar vaccine exemption signing event had been held at a seventh-day adventist church in palmerston north on 1 november. in response to the events in palmerston north, covid-19 response minister hipkins announced that the government would be establishing a centralised system to approve vaccine exemptions and clarified that the practise of selling vaccine certificates or offering them for free was illegal. in early december 2021, it was reported that media broadcaster newshub had recorded a kaiapoi–based general practitioner named dr jonie girouard illegally selling medical certificates as exemptions for covid-19 vaccines. this is in breach of regulations that only allow the ministry of health to grant medical exemptions relating to covid-19. the doctor was also recorded making anti-vaccination statements and admitted that she not been vaccinated for covid-19, in breach of the vaccine mandate for health workers. in response the new zealand medical association and police confirmed that they were investigating girouard with the assistance of the ministry of health for breaching the crimes act 1961 and the covid-19 public health response (vaccinations) order 2021. on 12 december, the medical council of new zealand confirmed that they were investigating girouard's husband michael while the health ministry declined a "temporary significant service disruption exemption" from jonie following media coverage of their activities to enable her to treat patients in person without being vaccinated. the couple was criticised by both national mp gerry brownlee and labour mp duncan webb, with the former calling for dr jonie to be suspended and the latter describing their actions as "defying the science." on 10 january 2021, the medical council confirmed that girouard was no longer registered as a general practitioner after she applied at her own request to be removed from the national register of doctors. in late march 2022, about 100 people from the group "silent no more" delivered a 12,000 strong petition to parliament demanding recognition for new zealanders who claimed that they had been injured by covid-19 vaccines. the delegation was met by national member of parliament chris penk, who had been informed of the petition by a constituent. vaccine mandates