As New Zealand looks across the globe to Europe and sees the most vaccinated continent rising in a fourth wave of Covid and contemplates the failure of mass vaccination to protect millions, Jacinda and Labour have decided to bet the farm on more not less. As accumulating data indicates that adverse reactions to mRNA dwarf any previous vaccines, we ask how did we become so certain about something so uncertain and risky?

Following the discovery of DNA, genetic research became the poster boy for a rosy future free from illness. Biotech garnered the lion’s share of all research money and university funding. But during the first decade of this century, gene therapy sunk into the doldrums. Efforts to bring relief to sufferers of genetic defects that cause diseases or increase vulnerability to cancer and other illnesses, were floundering due to serious adverse side effects of the virus vectors used to introduce genetic material to cells—the same technology used in mRNA vaccines.The Mayo Clinic lists these as:

• Unwanted immune system reaction. Your body’s immune system may see the introduced viruses as intruders and attack them. This can cause inflammation and, in severe cases, organ failure.
• Targeting the wrong cells. Altered viruses may infect additional cells — not just the targeted cells. If this happens, healthy cells may be damaged, causing other illness or diseases, such as cancer.
• Infection caused by the virus. It’s possible that once introduced into the body, the viruses may recover their original ability to cause disease.
• Possibility of causing a tumor. If genetic information becomes incorporated into your DNA, the insertion might lead to tumors.

Some of these adverse effects can take years to register and detect, necessitating long testing lead times. Despite investment of billions, no useful medicines were coming to market because of unacceptable side effects, leaving pharmaceutical companies financially struggling to recoup investment. Opinion among genetic scientists became polarised. More cautious biotechnologists, aware of the verified pitfalls and risks became locked in a struggle with those who believed in the inevitability of biotech medicine and were willing to take the risks. Experimentation by biotech advocacy groups away from scrutiny, like that at the Wuhan Virology Laboratory, became normalised. 

To bypass safety regulations, pharmaceutical companies knew they would need to engineer a seismic shift in acceptable levels of risk and harm. Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck, pharmaceutical companies and research bodies moved into high gear to develop gene vaccines. Simultaneously the public relations and lobbying arm of biotech swung into action. Long planned and nurtured pipelines into government regulators were primed and pumped. The International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA), with close ties to big pharma (to which Medsafe belongs) began to produce policy and procedure papers which informed Medsafe’s advice to our government. Biotech was going all in on its bet that regular shots of gene technology would be mandated for everyone in the world. Senior and highly experienced figures in the biotech world who spoke out about severe risks were marginalised by placement of clever publicity. 

Now the wheels are coming off and our government is on the back foot. It is certain that the preventive effects of mRNA vaccines are short lived and they are as much as 50 times more risky than traditional vaccines. Some of the predicted risks are being seen among the vaccinated such as immune deficiency, thrombosis, heart inflammation, and more. The government’s situation is dire, if they admit that vaccination is not a stand alone solution they will lose face and political advantage. If they start admitting to the public that the side effects of the vaccine are significant and a potential time bomb for the whole population, they face political oblivion. 

They have decided that the way ahead is safety in numbers—ignore flags of risk, vaccinate virtually the whole population and drag along the agreement of the media and the other political parties. Create a fearful and exaggerated picture of the both devastation of the disease and the efficacy of the vaccine. At the same time they have promoted a scapegoat myth that the unvaccinated can be blamed for everything. All of these government actions have been curated by the public relations machine of big pharma and its pipeline into Medsafe who have refused to institute policies that would adequately measure and analyse side effects of the vaccination programme.

The big picture is evident. The world is beset with almost out of control problems of health, food security, climate, and pollution. Extra-governmental international players are bidding to take control on a global level based on their narrow commercial interests. New Zealand needs to take back control of its own situation and sovereignty. One thing is absolutely clear and at odds with our current government’s policies—covid is a disease that severely affects those already ill whether they are vaccinated or not. 

The preventive answer to the severity and longevity of the pandemic is not a shot in the arm, but a massive effort to improve the general health of our population naturally through improved diet, exercise, nutrition, reduced stress, and sufficient rest. Remove GST from fresh fruit and vegetables, improve education in schools a la Jaime Oliver, regulate known disease vectors like excess sugar, hard fats, and pollutants, inform the public more fully, investigate and promote verified approaches to health like organic food, meditation, and yoga. 

The world is never going to recover from this pandemic unless we move in a new direction. Governments have put off change for years. It will take open minds, political bravery, intellectual honesty, and persistence, not an ineffective approach fraught with harm. 

Guy Hatchard PhD