Winston Peters’ Covid Inquiry ‘whitewash’ claim collided with the evidence

Winston Peters branded New Zealand’s Covid-19 Royal Commission a “sham” and a “whitewash”, but his portrayal is far from the truth. The inquiry investigated the very vaccine issues he suggested had been pushed aside.

Peters attacked the inquiry after the Government released its response to the Royal Commission, arguing its terms had been too narrow claiming New Zealand failed to deliver proper accountability. He also said evidence concerning advice over second Pfizer doses had to be extracted from the inquiry after being left out.

    Advertisement
  
    This ad is not available right now due to a network issue or pending review with the Google Advertisement Network. Please check back later.
  
    Advertisement
    Why this ad?
      
        Advertising revenue keeps articles from thisquality free to read. Ads are personalised by Google, not us. Thank you for your support! 🎉

thisquality can reveal the official record painted a considerably more complicated picture.

Image: Lorna Masoe, a worker at Auckland’s Jet Park quarantine facility, receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on 20 February 2021, as New Zealand began vaccinating frontline managed isolation, quarantine and border workers. (Supplied / Ministry of Health / Newswire)

Phase Two was specifically directed to examine the use of Covid-19 vaccines, including mandates, vaccine approvals and vaccine safety. Its terms included the monitoring and reporting of adverse reactions.

When Peters escribed the result as a “whitewash” it risked creating the impression that those questions had never been seriously investigated. They had.

    Advertisement
  
    This ad is not available right now due to a network issue or pending review with the Google Advertisement Network. Please check back later.
  
    Advertisement
    Why this ad?
      
        Advertising revenue keeps articles from thisquality free to read. Ads are personalised by Google, not us. Thank you for your support! 🎉

The Commission had found a significant failure involving advice from the Covid-19 Vaccine Technical Advisory Group dated December 9, 2021. The group advised that the risks from transmission among people aged under 18 were insufficient to justify mandating a two-dose Pfizer schedule.

The Commission found that advice had not been provided to ministers or to affected 12 to 17-year-olds. It described that failure as significant and said vaccine mandates continued to reflect outdated advice when newer evidence had been available.

There was a finding relating to serious weaknesses in how vaccination requirements were monitored.

Decision-makers reportedly lacked robust evidence about impacts including job losses, while some requirements went beyond what was necessary or remained in place too long.

Image: COVID-19 public health messaging in Auckland during New Zealand’s pandemic response. The Royal Commission’s Phase Two inquiry examined vaccine safety, adverse reactions and vaccination requirements. (Ministry of Health / Newswire Content)

Vaccine harm was also not erased from the report.

The Commission recorded four deaths were identified by the Coroner by August 2025 where a Covid-19 vaccine was implicated as a direct or indirect cause.

    Advertisement
  
    This ad is not available right now due to a network issue or pending review with the Google Advertisement Network. Please check back later.
  
    Advertisement
    Why this ad?
      
        Advertising revenue keeps articles from thisquality free to read. Ads are personalised by Google, not us. Thank you for your support! 🎉

ACC accepted five fatal vaccine-injury claims by April 2025. There was a recognised risk of myocarditis and pericarditis associated with the Pfizer vaccine, according to the findings.

Claims that Covid-19 vaccination caused widespread excess deaths were also rejected. The inquiry recorded 184 deaths reported after Pfizer vaccination by November 2022, but 163 were assessed as unlikely to have been caused by the vaccine. By August 2025, the Coroner had identified four deaths in which a Covid-19 vaccine was implicated as a direct or indirect cause, while ACC accepted five fatal vaccine-injury claims.

The Commission’s mortality analysis found cumulative deaths between 2020 and 2023 were just 0.36 percent above expected levels, while separate peer-reviewed research found the increase was concentrated in 2022 and 2023 and largely matched confirmed Covid-19 deaths.

There was no convincing evidence that vaccination caused New Zealand’s excess mortality.

The inquiry acknowledged some vaccine injuries, identified failures in the handling of expert advice, criticised mandate decisions and documented the social and employment damage caused by vaccination requirements.

Image: Winston Peters addresses supporters while delivering his campaign launch speech ahead of New Zealand’s 2026 election. (New Zealand First)

    Advertisement
  
    This ad is not available right now due to a network issue or pending review with the Google Advertisement Network. Please check back later.
  
    Advertisement
    Why this ad?
      
        Advertising revenue keeps articles from thisquality free to read. Ads are personalised by Google, not us. Thank you for your support! 🎉

Peters was free to argue those findings had not gone far enough. He was free to demand another inquiry. But portraying the exercise simply as a “whitewash” obscured what was actually sitting in the report.

The Royal Commission did not avoid uncomfortable evidence. In several important areas, it put that evidence on the record itself.

Advertisement

Advertisement Why this ad? Advertising revenue keeps articles from thisquality free to read. Ads are personalised by Google, not us. Thank you for your support! 🎉