The New Zealand Defence Force is taking a hard line against unvaccinated staff with some being publicly outed for not having the Covid-19 vaccination.

A letter sent to Minister of Defence Peeni Henare, which Stuff obtained, stated several members of the armed forces were being treated unfairly or unreasonably because they were unvaccinated.

Threats had been made that if uniformed staff members did not receive the vaccination, they risked losing their jobs.

Staff’s privacy was also being breached, with the document stating one commanding officer put up a list of unvaccinated members on a wall in their workplace, while another made staff file past him and say if they were vaccinated or not and why in front of everyone.

Some staff members who declined the vaccine for medical reasons said they felt pressured to get it, and were told they would be reassigned if they didn’t accept it.

Another allegation of mistreatment included a group of apprentices who were told by their commanding officer that, if they did not get the vaccination, their apprenticeship would end and they would go back to their old units to do a return of service obligation the same length as if they had qualified.

The letter, sent by a lawyer representing the group, asked Henare to intervene to make sure the members of NZDF were being treated fairly.

In two other letters obtained by Stuff, Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Kevin Short told staff his expectation was every uniformed member who was able to receive the vaccination “will be vaccinated”.

“The Covid-19 vaccine is now included within the baseline immunisation readiness criteria, and therefore it is a requirement to deploy.”

Short said he had been told there were pockets of people within the Defence Force who were choosing not to receive the vaccine.

“Whilst it is every service person's right to decline a vaccination, that choice does have consequences.

“Specifically, electing to not meet the baseline immunisation readiness criteria will result in a review of an individual’s future service.”

Lawyer Matthew Hague, who is representing the group, said there were already a number of people working in the Defence Force who had medical waivers.

“They are limited for medical reasons, and they have been able to carry on with their careers.”

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Hague questioned why this small number of staff who had not been vaccinated would not be able to do the same, and said under the Bill of Rights everyone had the right to natural justice.

“And that’s the right we say has been breached.”

Uniformed employees did not come under the Employment Relations Act, he said.

“The Defence Force has asked a lot from their people over the last couple of years and members of the New Zealand Defence Force have stepped up and done anything they can for New Zealand.

“All they are asking is for Defence to treat them fairly and lawfully.”

He said the people who had approached him knew there were some high-risk roles they would not be able to work in, but said there was no reason they could not carry on with their careers.

A request to interview Short was declined as he was travelling, but a statement from a New Zealand Defence Force spokeswoman said 2.1 per cent of personnel had declined the vaccine.

However, more than 90 per cent of uniformed personnel had received two doses, which allowed them to carry out their role in Operation Protect.

She said it was essential medical privacy was maintained for all defence personnel, and was not aware of any privacy breaches directly to date.

Uniformed personnel who refused the vaccine may have their continued service reviewed, but nobody had been released or discharged from service for this reason yet.

“For those with valid reasons not to receive the vaccine (ie, medical or reasonable personal grounds), their employment is managed on a case-by-case basis,” the spokeswoman said.

A person in the Defence Force, who Stuff has chosen not to name, said the group affected felt “blindsided” by the strong stance taken.

They said nobody they knew was declining the vaccination indefinitely, a lot were just asking for more time to make a more informed decision, or if they were declining it was for medical reasons.

And they felt the strong stance was hypocritical, with a number of senior personnel in the Defence Force currently not meeting the requirement to deploy threshold for medical reasons.

“There appears to be an unnecessary aggression and misguided approach to try and manage people.”

Cohesion, bullying and medical breaches were just some of the tactics they had heard being used to try to get staff to be vaccinated.

“Their mental and physical health has been impacted.

“Defence are not treating these people with dignity.”

A spokesperson for Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins declined comment on the matter, as did a spokeswoman for Defence Minister Henare.