To Vax Or Not To Vax: Golden Bay Immunologist Delivers Facts And Dispels The Rumours

Golden Bay immunologist and science writer Christopher von Roy wants to help the vaccine hesitants put aside the conspiracy theories and understand the science - and logic - behind the Covid vaccines.

That's why he's organising Mohua Vaccine Hui: Why getting vaccinated is important for our community. This informative hui will be open to everyone, outside the Takaka Library, at 1pm today, Sunday December 12.

The small Tasman township of Takaka has attracted nationwide media coverage because of anti-vax protests and its low rate of Covid vaccinations.

Christopher is a member of FACT Aotearoa (Fight Against Conspiracy Theories). As a senior Substack writer, his regular articles in The World According to von Roy attract thousands of followers worldwide.

Fellow Golden Bay resident, strategist and entrepreneur Anna Dean, will also speak at the hui. For Anna, as for many New Zealanders, Covid-19 has brought a major change in lifestyle. She switched from a busy career in Wellington to working remotely from Golden Bay.

The hui is a rare opportunity for the Golden Bay/Takaka community to hear from experts about the Covid vaccination policy in Aotearoa, followed by a Q&A session.

More on Christopher von Roy: Immunology background

One of the first people to graduate with a Master of Science degree in Immunology from Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London (the world’s leading science research university, along with Cambridge).

In London, I worked for Chelsea and Westminster Hospital’s pathology department, doing research into the HIV vaccine REMUNE. I was also part of the team that discovered why women live longer than men: because their thymus - the organ responsible for producing T cells - atrophies (dies out) at a slower rate in women than in men. In the German Air Force, I worked in molecular diagnostics. After Imperial College, I worked for a start-up biotech company in Colorado, Source Precision Medicine, where we did genetic diagnostics as well as vaccine work for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (US Government contract).

When I moved to New Zealand in 2004 I worked as a medical writer, specialising in immunology, virology and emerging vaccine technology. In 2010, I did a postgraduate degree with Professor Roger Booth at Auckland University, where I investigated placebo and nocebo effects. In Golden Bay, I work as a freelance medical writer, ghostwriter and researcher for various clients in Europe, the US and Singapore.

Rutherford and Golden Bay:

I moved to Golden Bay to explore the area in anticipation of writing a novel about the historical friendship between Albert Einstein and Ernest Rutherford. Rutherford grew up in nearby Brightwater. When he won the Nobel Prize, the committee asked him where he garnered his inspiration from and he simply replied: "walking with my father on Farewell Spit and the surrounding bush" (Kahurangi National Park). A friend who liked my book idea offered me a little cottage in Puponga, and when I moved there I retraced Rutherford's footsteps for the next 8 months, including visiting his school and home. The hut I lived in had neither running water nor electricity, but was beautiful, tucked right in the bush with a little stream running through, and my own bridge. I powered my laptop with a diesel generator and bathed in the nearby river, just like the olden times. I absolutely loved it and never felt freer.

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