The COVID-19 Inquiry and Misinformation w/ Associate Professor at the University of Auckland Helen Petousis-Harris: December 4th, 2024

Last week, the first phase of the royal commission of inquiry into New Zealand’s covid response was released to the public.

The report looked at the lockdowns, the border response and vaccine mandates and made 39 recommendations on how New Zealand could plan for future infectious disease outbreaks more effectively.

The report also made numerous references to the impacts of fake news and misinformation, regarding vaccines and the origins of COVID-19 which had impacts on the ability of medical staff to carry out their responsibilities and lead to unrest during New Zealand's second lockdown in 2021. 

However, while addressing it earlier in the report, the recommendations made to the government in the inquiry had no references to the role of misinformation in the pandemic or how to address it in future infectious disease outbreaks.

Oto spoke to Helen Petousis-Harris, an associate professor at the University of Auckland, to discuss the prevalence of misinformation during the pandemic and how the inquiry report failed to address it in its 39 recommendations to the government.