This morning I received an email from Keith Lynch, ‘Science Explainer’ at Stuff newspaper. Apparently Keith intends to write a ‘hit piece’ on me in Monday’s Stuff. Keith’s letter is below in black.
Updates:
March 15, 2022: Keith Lynch’s “hit piece” Covid 19 NZ: The strange story of a man who has found fame in the anti-vaccination ecosystem
March 18, 2022: Daily Telegraph New Zealand article: Stuff.co.nz’s Guy Hatchard hitpiece: Playing the man and not the ball
Based on Stuff’s continuing approach to attack unvaccinated people in the public eye or in elected positions without offering them any ‘right of reply’, I am publishing my answer to his questions in full, so that you can make up your own mind.
My replies in blue
Hello Guy
My name is Keith Lynch and I’m a reporter at Stuff.
I’m writing a piece about you and some of your writings on the Covid vaccine and i’ve some questions.
- Can you tell me more about your professional background? You say you worked for Global ID. Can you tell me more about the nature of your work there?
I worked as a senior manager at Genetic ID, a global food safety testing and certification company (now known as FoodChain ID). My official title was Director of Natural Products. The company developed statistical sampling and testing strategies based on PCR technology to ensure that both bulk and retail products were free of genetic modification. Genetic ID certification was used by its customers, including large primary product and retail suppliers, to ensure that they could gain access to international trade opportunities between countries and trading blocks including Japan, the EU, and many others. I was involved in all of these activities.
- What qualifications do you have that make you comment on the Covid vaccines? I note your PHD is in psychology (I also note that Maharishi University of Management is not accredited by the APA).
Maharishi International University (MIU) is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), the accrediting agency for universities and colleges in the North Central region of the US. The Higher Learning Commission is recognized by the US Department of Education and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). MIU primary student intake is in programmes for Computer Professionals, Management, Integrative Health, and Sustainable and Regenerative Living. You can find out more for example at
https://www.miu.edu/cba/accredited-by-iacbe
My BSc Hons undergraduate degree was in Logic and Theoretical Physics at the University of Sussex, UK. This included courses in foundations of mathematics and the scientific method. I have a Post Graduate Diploma in Teaching for Science, Physics, and English from Christchurch Teachers College (now part of Canterbury University). My MA thesis at MIU studied the use of Bloom’s mastery learning techniques in mathematics education to increase achievement in mathematics at the 2 sigma level. My PhD is nominally in the Psychology Department, but focused on the use of time series analysis and panel regression analysis to investigate the effect of human factors including meditation on national competitive advantage as measured by social and economic indicators in 40 countries. For this I analysed hundreds of data sets supplied by the Institute for Management Development in Lausanne Switzerland. The conclusions of my thesis have been published in a peer reviewed journal. In essence, meditation can enhance individual creativity and this can impact economic achievement positively and reduce social problems including crime. My work has been published in the journal Psychology, Crime, and Law. I was a keynote speaker at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society. I have written papers and lectured on QALYs Quality Adjusted Life Years, a system of assessing the impact of health interventions on longevity and quality of life. I have written a book Discovering and Defending Your DNA Diet which is available as a download from Amazon Kindle and Smashwords. It contains over 800 references to studies published in scholarly journals.
– You write on your site – He has lectured and advised governments in countries around the world on health and education initiatives.
Can you expand on this?
I have traveled extensively and lectured on the safety issues of genetic engineering and on the impact of over-regulation of the natural health products sector. I have met with State Prime Ministers and Ministers in Australia and Ministers in the UK and New Zealand. I have made presentations to MoH committees in New Zealand. I presented to the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification in New Zealand. There is a section in our Parliamentary Library of my writings. In 1990 I was invited to be a lead of a team working under the auspices of the Ministry of Health of Armenia to relieve PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) following an earthquake which killed over 25,000 people. Our team treated 35,000 people over the course of a year. For seven years I was director of a 60 million pound crime prevention community project in Merseyside, UK which received government funding and won a British Urban Renewal Award. This project also involved the founding of a new school which is now an award winning free school fully funded by the UK Department of Education.
– Can you tell me more about how your adherence to the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, has shaped your beliefs on the Covid vaccine.
I have never said that the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi shaped my ‘beliefs’ about Covid vaccination, which in any case are not beliefs and are actually based on published research. As Maharishi died in 2008, it is strange for you to suggest that he had opinions on mRNA Covid vaccines. I practice his technique of Transcendental Meditation and have done so since 1969. Extensive published research shows it aids mental clarity, health, and well being. The American Heart Association has endorsed it as a means of improving heart health and reducing blood pressure. I have greatly benefited from knowing the founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and I worked and communicated with him from time to time until his death in 2008, but I am not currently associated with any Transcendental Meditation organisation. I hold different views to Transcendental Meditation organisations. I realise that the understanding and development of consciousness is a legitimate aim of education. My current views largely rely on published research. In NZ we live in a country where one is free to practice religion, take up yoga or meditation. What are you implying here?
- A number of people I’ve spoken to describe you as a leading voice in NZ’s anti vax movement. What do you make of that?
In my book published in 2017, I cite no references opposing vaccination, nor do I discuss any anti vax arguments. My wife’s sister died within 24 hours of receiving a polio vaccine, but my mother suffered disabilities as a result of contracting polio which affected her quality of life. My wife and I have both received vaccinations. There are very valid historical reasons why international human rights documents, to which NZ is a signatory, uphold personal medical choice. I therefore believe in general that medical procedures should always be a matter of informed choice. I am opposed to the mandating of mRNA vaccines. There are serious safety issues. Prima facie evidence exists corroborating this. The rate of adverse effect reporting for the Pfizer mRNA vaccine in New Zealand is running at 30x that of traditional flu vaccines. I have written extensively on this during the last six months. My views can be assessed from my website HatchardReport.com and have been reprinted widely by many media outlets.
– Your own university has published a thorough guide for students on the Covid vaccines that is broadly supportive. It specifically notes: “The Covid-19 vaccines are not “genetic engineering” in that sense — they do not involve any modification or manipulation of our genes or DNA.”
What do you make of it? https://www.miu.edu/admissions/coronavirus
MIU is not ‘my own university’. I studied for a PhD there and was briefly on the faculty. The official views of MIU and myself are not identical. I note that MIU, like all accredited universities in the USA, is in receipt of very substantial federal educational grants, one recent condition of these grants is the formation of acceptable Covid vaccination policies.
I note you’ve written that the vaccines are “gene manipulation”.
Can you comment?
I suggest you watch my video “The Pandemic of Biotechnology” which can be viewed at my website HatchardReport.com. It contains many scientific references. If you want to examine the history of the development of mRNA techniques from a pro-mRNA vaccine standpoint, I suggest you read an article from the journal Nature entitled the tangled history of mRNA vaccines. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02483-w Even from this perspective, it is clear that mRNA vaccines emerged from work in gene therapy and gene manipulation. You are probably aware of recent work in Sweden confirming that mRNA vaccine sequences can integrate into human liver cells in vitro.
– In a recent Counterspin interview you cite a US study which found Omicron was much milder than Delta. The study also states: evidence for a reduction in severe outcomes among vaccinated cases with both Delta and Omicron variant infections in our study suggests substantial public health benefits from continued Covid-19 vaccination.”
Do you reject this? https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.11.22269045v1.full-text
You may not be aware, but I and many of my professional colleagues around the world are aware that it is a safe policy, when submitting articles for publication in learned journals about Covid, to include some words encouraging Covid vaccination. It is a policy of many universities to expel researchers and professors who publicly express doubts about biotechnology and Covid vaccination. I also note, as a local example of this, that in a recent email exchange with a leading RNZ host he said it was unacceptable to air the views of anyone who opposed Covid vaccination.
The study you refer to above was funded by the CDC. My comments reference a close look at the data the authors presented in the study. Because the unvaccinated data is not fully analysed in the paper, this is best explained in the following video by a professor who is actually known to be pro vaccination, but nevertheless he explains how the study data reveals little difference between Omicron outcomes for the vaccinated and unvaccinated. This is not data the CDC would be very happy about, its analysis was glossed over in the paper:
- In that interview you also state Omicron an “equal opportunity virus” that affects the vaccinated and unvaccinated equally. You make this claim despite a plethora of data showing unvaccinated people are much more likely to be hospitalised. Can you explain why you make this statement?
I suggest you reference my analysis of NZ data published yesterday on my website and in the Daily Telegraph. In this I fact check in great detail how the presentation by Stuff articles of relative risks as opposed absolute risks is designed to make Omicron seem frightening when in actuality Covid has evolved to become a relatively mild illness.
– I also noted you continued to claim the vaccine was man-made. This is despite a range of studies emerging suggests it originated at the Wuhan Market – https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/02/26/science/covid-virus-wuhan-origins.html
The article in the NY Times (a newspaper) has been widely lampooned, it reported a ‘study’ that has not been either published or peer reviewed. I suggest you Google your question, the articles covering the issue will keep you busy until Christmas. My colleagues in the gene therapy field are of the opinion that there are a number of genetic sequences that are recognisably from gene therapy experiments.
– In your newsletter last week you wrote – We woke up this morning to the news that Shane Warne aged 52 had died unexpectedly of a heart attack. Since he was travelling in Thailand at the time, no doubt he had had a Covid-19 vaccination. Was this causal? Possibly. At the very least you can forgive me for asking this question.”
Can you explain why you made this claim when there was no evidence to suggest this was the case? Surely this is a very unscientific claim to make?
It wasn’t a ‘claim’ it was a question. Why doesn’t Stuff ask more probing questions? MoH has warned heads of DHBs of the need to be very alert to spot cases of carditis following vaccination, why haven’t MoH instituted a robust programme to collate data on the incidence of heart disease in NZ since vaccination? Astrid Koorneef has written to me on behalf of Ashley Bloomfield saying the MoH sees no need for mandatory reporting of adverse effects, meanwhile many vaccine recipients presenting with tachycardia, chest pain, and shortness of breath are still being sent home by EDs and GPs without a CARM report or thorough investigation.
- Why do you think you know so many vaccine-injured people compared to the general public?
This is a jolly question. You tell me. I am retired and living in a rural location. Why have so many of my friends and neighbours had adverse health incidents after Covid vaccination? Why did Jacinda Ardern delete the 33,000 comments from her FB page about vaccine adverse effects? Clearly she has far more friends than me that have vaccine injuries. Why haven’t you been asking the Prime Minister? Why has the Health Forum NZ page been deleted by FB—the last refuge of vaccine injured people in the absence of any coverage from Stuff?
You mentioned in the Counterspin interview that your last chat with your friend involved him saying: ‘Thank God I’ve had the vaccine. Now I get on with my retirement and enjoy life.’
Do you have any proof the vaccine was involved in this man’s death?
He suffered known mRNA vaccine injuries—heart inflammation (carditis) and immune system suppression. Medsafe has a list of at least 150 deaths proximate to vaccination reported to CARM, (many more have been reported to NZDSOS). For most of these, Medsafe maintains they cannot determine whether vaccination was the cause of death. ACC is denying many claims for compensation on this basis. Temporal association is the first criteria used to determine causality. I have suggested that there be a more determined approach to assessing cause of death proximate to vaccination. In some cases, this might involve an autopsy. As the numbers in NZ are small this should also involve international cooperation.
- I also note that last year you were supportive of Ardern and v supportive of Michael Baker’s elimination strategy in a no of FB posts. Can you explain what happened? Your opinion has changed dramatically?
I was initially very supportive of Jacinda Ardern’s strategy of border closures. I believed and still believe that it should have bought NZ time to review an evolving research picture. In the event, the death rate in NZ from Covid infection is among the lowest in the world, if not the lowest. That is creditable. Early on there were scientific opinions that mRNA vaccination was safe and effective. It was believed that RNA genetic sequences would rapidly dissipate and the spike proteins generated by cells taking up the RNA sequences would stimulate an appropriate immune response and then also dissipate. This has not turned out to be the case. RNA sequences can continue to generate spike proteins over long periods. There is extensive lymph node hyper metabolism following vaccination. There is an unprecedented rate of adverse effects, some of which do not dissipate. We should have been more cautious about mRNA vaccines. The introduction of employment mandates was a big mistake from a safety perspective and an economic disaster.
– I see you referenced Michael Baker agreeing with your opinions re adverse effects in a piece https://www.thedailyexaminer.co.nz/the-long-read-jacinda-ardern-science-and-covid-mandates-events-facts-and-fallacies/
I asked Michael about this this year and he said his comments were taken out of context. He was quite disappointed re this. Do you wish to reply?
I have only quoted Michael Baker verbatim from emails between ourselves. I do not believe these are out of context. It is very important in all correspondence to own your opinions.
Philip Hill has also told me you’re misrepresented his views.
Philip Hill is a senior academic. I note that in the course of the correspondence between Michael, Philip, and myself and others, it was a cordial exchange of scientific views which I respect. Inexplicably, the correspondence came to an abrupt end when I expressed serious reservations about the safety of mRNA vaccination. There was one particular case of a young woman of 17 who died unexpectedly from a thrombotic event following vaccination. It has still not been admitted by Medsafe that this was caused by vaccination.
I’d appreciate if you could come back to me by tomorrow morning.
Keith
I Have Questions for You Keith
I note that your qualifications are in marketing, commerce, and journalism, yet you are the chief covid science explainer editor for Stuff appointed at the start of the NZ vaccination rollout. You list three people on Linkedin who have influenced your thinking: Bill Gates, Helen Clarke, and Simon Sinek. Was it a part of your job description on appointment at Stuff that your writing should support the government’s vaccination programme? How did you get such an appointment without a science background?
Because I have been working for a long time off and on questioning the safety of genetic engineering and genetic medicine, I am aware that one’s views are not always well reported in mainstream media, so I am publishing my reply to you as a press release in the hope that other media outlets might pick it up and report it in full.
