A group questioning the legality of New Zealand's vaccine rollout has argued its case in the High Court at Wellington today.
Much of the case by applicant Nga Kaitiaki Tuku Ihu Inc focuses on whether the vaccine being rolled out to the majority of the country fits within the provisional consent legislation in the Medicines Act that it has been granted under.
The vaccine, Pfizer-BioNTech Covid 19, has been formally tested on more than 40,000 people - half received the vaccine, the other half a placebo which consisted of slightly salty water. Since it started being used widely, tens of millions of people have now received it.
One of the group's lawyers, Warren Pike, told the hearing that the provisional consent in section 23 (1) of the Act is not meant to encompass a large number of people, and the legislation was designed for "orphan drugs" for a small number of patients.
Pike claimed that it wasn't necessary to have the vaccine being rolled out under provisional consent because it was "self evident" that there is no "need" for the rollout right now because of our Government's success with the lockdown.