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Health Minister Chris Hipkins today closed the “deliberate misinformation” claiming that the government will make a Covid-19 vaccine mandatory if it is made available.
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The Health Minister says people will be encouraged to get vaccinated if one is available. Source: 1 NEWS
At the 1pm briefing, Hipkins said that people will be “encouraged” to get vaccinated, but that it will not be required.
“I was alarmed by the number of letters I received from people concerned that the government would make Covid-19 vaccines mandatory,” Hipkins said.
“This is a direct result of the deliberate misinformation that is spread through social media.
“The Government is not imposing the Covid-19 vaccine or any other vaccine.
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This despite concerns, is deliberately misleading. Source: 1 NEWS
“Of course, when we have a vaccine available, we will encourage people to get it, as it will help keep everyone safe.”
His comments come after Congressman Jami-Lee Ross last week refused to remove a controversial political ad on vaccines, despite concerns that it was deliberately misleading.
His party, the Advance NZ / NZ Public Party, released a video last month with images from Parliament titled: “Last week, Labor rushed to pass a law change urgently to allow them to force our citizens to get vaccinated.”
“You could end up being fined for putting that video and leaving it there and absolutely reject the decision of the Speaker of Parliament that he says we should remove it,” Ross said in a Facebook live video.
The video used edited clips from Parliament on the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act 2020.
The Act states that the Minister or Director General could issue an order requiring a person to “satisfy any specific criteria before entering New Zealand”, and gave the example of causing a person to register when entering an isolation facility administered.
Such orders can only be issued in a specific set of circumstances, such as “they do not limit or constitute a justified limit to the rights and freedoms of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.”
Jami-Lee Ross confronted the Parliamentary Privileges Committee on Monday over the video.
The Privileges Committee unanimously agreed that the independent deputy violated the rules by misusing edited parliamentary television videos for political advertisements.
