Category: Covid-19 Vaccine Injured New Zealanders

The second episode of THE+TRIBUTE features Auckland father Brent, who describes developing pericarditis following his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in 2021, and the subsequent impact on his family, health and trust in public institutions.

Initially trusting of the medical system and pharmaceutical companies, he says he became increasingly uneasy with what he perceived as a fear-based narrative and limited public discussion of potential risks. Following two wider family members’ cancer diagnoses, Brent says unspoken expectations within his family intensified. On 5 September 2021 he received his first Pfizer dose. Within five days, he experienced severe pain:

“I started getting a big knot in my back, which travelled up, to the point where I was in extreme pain. And then it came into my chest.”

He drove himself to hospital in the early hours, telling staff the vaccine was the only recent change in his life. Although he says his concerns were initially dismissed, tests later confirmed pericarditis – inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart. Brent, who has previously suffered multiple broken bones and gout attacks, describes the pain as “so incredibly painful” and worse than any injury he had experienced.

After 24 hours of monitoring, Brent says he was discharged with advice to proceed with his second dose because “COVID is way worse”. He recalls feeling stunned by that recommendation:

“I was in absolute disbelief… If that’s the calibre of our doctors, like, seriously, we’re in big, big trouble.”

Brent was initially granted a temporary medical exemption from Covid-19 vaccination mandates and the then–Covid-19 Protection Framework settings, which had restricted access to many services and venues for the unvaccinated. However, he says a subsequent exemption application was declined and he was advised he should still receive a second dose.

Official data from Health New Zealand show that very few New Zealanders who reported serious adverse reactions were granted medical exemptions to mandated vaccination. Of those who applied on the basis of myocarditis or pericarditis after a first dose (119), only 43 received exemptions. Similar patterns applied to applications based on severe anaphylaxis, other significant adverse reactions, and pre-existing inflammatory cardiac conditions.

Brent’s family was further affected when his 15‑year‑old son developed similar symptoms several weeks later.

“One night, my son was sitting doing his homework. He goes, ‘I’ve got this real sore back.’”

His son was admitted to hospital and then left largely bedridden for three to four months, with even walking to the letterbox leaving him exhausted. He missed substantial schooling, particularly in maths and physics, making his ambition of becoming an engineer significantly harder to pursue.

Another son was excluded from his football team because of his unvaccinated status.

With limited support offered through conventional channels, Brent says the family turned to a range of alternative therapies at considerable personal cost:

“We spent a lot of money doing a lot of the more alternative treatments. It was a tough two years, it definitely left us quite financially stretched. Now I seem to be okay. But there are still a whole heap of unknowns.”

Brent says he has lost friends whom he believes died as a result of vaccination, and he keeps his vaccine card as a stark reminder. The overall experience, he says, has deeply shaken his trust in pharmaceutical companies, Medsafe, and political and medical leadership, particularly around what he describes as inadequate informed consent about risks such as myocarditis and pericarditis.

“There was grief around realising that I couldn’t trust people that I thought I could. Yeah, real grief and anger, and fear actually. The whole thing has made me incredibly cynical, untrusting and angry.”

He also describes how his faith has been central in coming to terms with what has happened and in his decision to decline government compensation:

“I’m a man of faith as well, so that really helped massively.”

 Watch Brent’s full 20-minute episode now on YouTube or Spotify

In this powerful first episode of The Tribute, we share the story of Ange, a former yoga teacher and dedicated healthcare worker from Tauranga, New Zealand. 

Once known for her boundless energy—rising at 5 a.m. for runs up Mount Maunganui, teaching yoga classes, and thriving in CrossFit—Ange’s life changed dramatically after receiving a single Pfizer mRNA injection in 2021. As a frontline health worker in a rest home, Ange felt she had no choice but to get vaccinated to keep her job and support her family. 

“It happened straight away for me. I started to get stabbing pain on the left side of my chest. My daughter rushed me to the emergency department, and the doctor there said to me that I was the fourth person that day that had had this sort of reaction. They don’t know what’s going to happen to me.”

Sent home with a ‘wait and see’ approach, her symptoms worsened: relentless chest tightness, rashes, metallic taste in her mouth, extreme fatigue, elevated D-dimer levels revealing evidence of blood clotting, and ongoing inflammation.

Specialists, including immunologist Dr. Rohan Ameratunga, diagnosed her with vaccine-induced long COVID and costochondritis which is inflammation of the cartilage connecting the ribs to the breastbone. “I still have that too to this day,” Ange explains.

Further testing by researcher Dr. Anna Brooks revealed micro-clots in her blood -findings linked directly to the vaccine reaction, as Ange had never had COVID-19. 

As a qualified health-worker, Ange explains:

“These micro clots are microscopic and they pass through the vein and clog them up for like a second or two, but it’s not enough to have a full on stroke. They’re too small, but over time, if you’re not keeping that blood thin, like taking blood thinners, the blood will kind of stick together, and you have a mini stroke or a mini heart attack.” 

Ange endured over 100 hospital visits, profound medical gaslighting, placed on mental health drugs and eventually ended up in a psyche facility.  

“The doctor would be like, ‘it’s all in your head’. There was one time I was on the floor for five hours in the emergency department, holding my heart like crying and begging for them to help me. The doctors were just walking past me.”

She lost everything: her job, home, relationships, friends and the vibrant spirit that defined her. 

“Both my daughters have got trauma from it. They saw me as an on the go—super mum, to just in bed all day with the curtain shut. And my partner at the time had to carry me to the shower. I had to be propped up in the bed with pillows everywhere so that I could breathe properly.”

After a grueling three-year battle, Ange eventually won limited help from the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) for treatment costs and aids like a wheelchair—though she emphasises it’s far from adequate, arriving late as she begins to regain some mobility. During her claim, she explains fraudulent attempts by ACC specialists to manipulate her medical records.

According to a proactive release from ACC of Covid-19 vaccine related treatment injury claims, received by The Tribute team last year, between 18 February 2021 and 21 July 2025, ACC had received 4,442 claims for injuries relating to the Covid vaccination. During this time they have paid out $14,948,677 on 1,769 confirmed treatment injuries, defined as an injury caused as a result of receiving a Covid-19 vaccination from a registered health professional. 

Now living day-to-day on a sickness benefit, Ange speaks out to raise awareness and support others who suffer in silence, as she calls for a proper investigation and compensation for the injured who were coerced into vaccination during the mandates.

“We were told we’re gonna lose our jobs if we don’t— your kids, your grandmother are going to die. Like all the rhetoric that was coming in from everywhere. I remember standing in the chemist and ‘get your vaccine, get your vaccine.’ Then in the supermarket, ‘get your vaccine,’ like it was everywhere.”

Ange’s courage shines through:

“It’s really hard when you get to this point and you realize that there isn’t any help out there and no one’s coming to save you. No one’s going to fix this. And all you can do is just keep talking and keep speaking up and telling your story.”

Her experience is similar to many thousands of New Zealanders. Official figures from Medsafe’s Suspected Medicine Adverse Reaction Search (SMARS) database, drawn from the national pharmacovigilance system records over 223,000 various symptoms reported by individuals, ranging from ‘Influenza Like Illness’ (over 8500), to ‘Chest Pain’ (over 1,100), to ‘Stroke’ (over 240) following vaccination with the Comirnaty vaccine.

SMARS is a voluntary reporting system of suspected drug adverse reactions set up by the Ministry of Health to meet the growing public demand for transparent information about medicines. At least 20,000 of these reports are classified as serious injury—life threatening and requiring hospitalisation. 

“I was born in America, and I love New Zealand, but this is something I’ve never seen and never would have thought it would happen here.”

Unfortunately, Ange has recently been admitted to hospital with further complications arising from her vaccination event. The team at The Tribute wish Ange a smooth recovery.

 Watch Ange’s full 20-minute episode now on YouTube, Spotify, X or Facebook.