PandemicNZ

PandemicNZ is a research project that aims to build capability, resources and resilience for the next pandemic.

The project aims to help New Zealand prepare for future pandemics, by identifying key lessons before they are lost and forgotten. It draws together early Institute publications as well as an increasingly comprehensive suite of research into and publications on the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

Pandemics are not uncommon; they are frequent enough to cause major damage while being irregular enough for knowledge not to be passed down through generations. The recent COVID-19 pandemic is the fifth global pandemic in just over a century. Previous pandemics began in 1918, 1957, 1968 and 2009. Improving New Zealand’s pandemic preparedness has been a key goal of the Institute since 2005. The occurrence and impact of future pandemics is likely to increase across the world due to climate change and land use changes. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted gaps in preparedness, both in terms of the health system and supply chains. We must strengthen our capabilities and preparedness so that we are ready for future pandemics.

PandemicNZ aims to contribute to discussions on ways to increase pandemic preparedness. We have the unique opportunity to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying key lessons that will be beneficial in the long term. It is essential that we review what New Zealand did well, and what can be done to improve our capabilities and preparedness in the future.

Interconnecting research projects

PandemicNZ is closely aligned with the Institute’s ForesightNZ research project.

More detail

Analysing New Zealand’s response to COVID-19 (ongoing)
Research for PandemicNZ revolves around several Institute publications, as well as a number of government and other independent reviews of the Government’s response (see tables of publications and independent reports below).

By critically reviewing the events of the COVID-19 pandemic alongside independent reviews both within New Zealand and internationally, the Institute hopes to identify and share these key lessons to ensure that New Zealand, and the world, are better prepared for the next pandemic. In 2024, the Institute produced a submission to the NZ Royal Commission COVID-19 Lessons Learned | Te Tira Ārai Urutā: Phase One to the Royal Commission of Inquiry. This was followed up in 2025 by another submission to the NZ Royal Commission COVID-19 Lessons Learned | Te Tira Ārai Urutā: Phase Two. These two submissions will be published on the Institute’s table of submissions once they are publicly available.

Discussion Paper 2024/02 – The COVID-19 Ripple Effect: An independent review of New Zealand’s response (2024)

The Institute welcomes the opportunity to offer feedback to the NZ Royal Commission COVID-19 Lessons Learned | Te Tira Ārai Urutā: Phase One. This discussion paper does not aim to represent a complete picture of COVID-19 in New Zealand, but it does hope to contribute to the narrative by illustrating ways to analyse and think about our response in a way that might be helpful.

Discussion Paper 2025/03 – Time to Prepare: Lessons from the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy (2025)

Unlocking Strategy: the COVID-19 dilemma

Country graphs: Mapping the COVID-19 curves

Worksheet 2020/01: COVID-19 Exploring certainties and uncertainties

Table 1: MOH pandemic publications
This table is a list of Ministry of Health (MOH) pandemic publications on the MOH website since 2010.

Table 2: Independent reviews on the Government’s response to COVID-19
This table is a list of reports prepared by independent individuals or bodies.

Note:
* Titles marked with an asterisk indicate the report has been super-ceded and the report is now out of date.
# Titles marked with a hashtag indicate a soft copy of the report cannot be found.