Organisers hailed the screening of a documentary about those who suffered adverse reactions to Covid-19 vaccines as a success after the film played to a sold-out crowd on Monday.

Eugene Dean, of the Collective Action Solidarity Trust, which organised the screening of Anecdotals, said the event quickly sold out leaving some latecomers without tickets.

The group announced that they had invited 100 doctors and politicians to the screening, and that some invited doctors were among the attendees.

However he added that both David Burt, the Premier, and Kim Wilson, the Minister of Health, had sent their apologies in advance.

“We have offered them a private screening, but we are waiting to hear back from them,” he said.

Mr Dean said Cast had hoped the screening would help the public “come to terms” with the handling of the pandemic.

“We recognise the grief experienced by so many in our community who have suffered harm or experienced loss,” he said.

“Therefore, the focus of our event is to understand what those impacted are going through, acknowledge that they exist, and find the best possible ways to assist.

“With that in mind, the more people we have in attendance with the capacity to understand their plight and develop effective solutions, the faster we can make inroads into achieving our goal of helping those in need.”

Mr Dean said a second screening is scheduled to take place at Speciality Cinema on April 17, with tickets available both at the theatre and the Cast website, jointhecast.org.

A video recording of the panel discussion will also be made available at the Cast website.