A Gisborne district councillor and health board member has been reprimanded after posting misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine on social media.
In a Facebook post, Meredith Akuhata-Brown said New Zealanders were being asked to take a vaccine that had not been effectively trialled or, in her words, 'met any real Medsafe approval'.
But the medicines regulator approved the Pfizer vaccine on 3 February, after what it said was a full assessment of its safety.
Local health board Hauora Tairawhiti was disappointed by the comments.
Akuhata-Brown told the Local Democracy Reporting service she posted after hearing the co-leader of the New Zealand Outdoors Party on talkback radio, but wasn't promoting an anti-vaccine stance.
"If it means courageous conversations about information sharing then there's always wins for me," she said.
She said she had learned from the situation and hoped her post would start important conversations.
RNZ
