Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:624;Page:19307] 
2. 
BARBARA STEWART (NZ First)  
on behalf of  
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does she have confidence that her Minister of Health will ensure that elderly New Zealanders will not die as a consequence of the lack of a suitable supply of flu vaccine? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Deputy Prime Minister) 
 on behalf of the 
 Prime Minister 
: I have confidence that the Minister is doing everything in her power to ensure that the health authorities obtain as much flu vaccine as possible. 
Barbara Stewart 
: At what point did Pharmac discover that the Sanofi Pasteur vaccine was only half the required strength for protection against the Wellington strain of the flu? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I do not have information as to when the company discovered that. All I have here is information about when it informed us. The Minister was advised of the actual problem on 7 March. Almost immediately steps were taken to secure alternative vaccine supplies. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: Why has the Prime Minister not asked the Minister of Health to resign given that the Prime Minister confirmed to the House that Ms King was advised “of the issues” relating to the flu vaccine on 28 February but Ms King did not make efforts to find out the nature of that vitally important public health issue by her own admission until 7 March? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: The Minister was advised on 28 February that there was a potential problem with the flu vaccine but not until 7 March of the exact nature of it. That problem of course applies to 70 percent of the supplies in the Southern Hemisphere which all come from the same company. The Australian Minister is in exactly the same position as our Minister and no doubt the Australian Labor Party is going through the same performance in the Australian House this week that we are. 
Barbara Stewart 
: Did Sanofi Pasteur give a contractual guarantee that its vaccine would cover the Wellington strain of the flu? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I am not advised whether there was a guarantee. Certainly it was contracted to provide a vaccine that would meet the Southern Hemisphere requirements and clearly as it accepts this vaccine does not. Obviously we may look to our remedies in relation to that and I prefer therefore not to comment further. 
Barbara Stewart 
: Is it accurate to say that only 50000 people will receive the fully effective vaccine within the next few weeks and that the additional 100000 doses from Commonwealth Serum Laboratories may not arrive in time to be effective against an early flu outbreak; if so what confidence can we have in the Government’s ability to deal with any outbreak of a more serious nature such as bird flu? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: No the technical advice is that a 2 to 3 week delay in the vaccine is not expected to make much difference given the pattern of influenza in previous years. In relation to avian flu of course no vaccine has yet been developed against it. That matter is being taken up by the World Health Organization as a matter of some urgency. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: I seek leave to table a paper published by Pharmac in which it states that the flu vaccine will be available in New Zealand from 1 March. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.