Other Than Covid – What Other News Will Make Headlines This Year?

Welcome to 2022.  The year of more of the ‘Unknown.’   More staying at home possibly and more bugs floating around.    We’ve done this before and we’ll probably have to do it again.

Those in business know the drill about how things will function if there is another lockdown – but for another year at least we may also have to deal with quieter streets, quieter everything.   A quieter life.

Hedge your bets if Omicron makes it south of Christchurch.   I honestly wouldn’t know what to think anymore.   It would be stupid to carry on and ignore it.    Most of us have never stopped thinking about Covid since it first arrived on our shores.  Our entire lives have been rearranged to incorporate this new unwelcome visitor.

The chief executive of Pfizer admitted today that three doses of the vaccine wouldn’t do enough to offer protection against Omicron (2 + booster), and an entirely new vaccine would be made available in March.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern just explained on social media her analogy of the ongoing vaccine top ups – comparing them to the education system.

The first jab is like kindergarten and your body is still getting used to it, the second jab it knows what’s going on like we do when we get to high school, and by the time you get the booster, then you’re immune system is ready to cope with the real world (tertiary level).

But from what I have heard in the community, there is still a lot of people stuck in kindergarten and they’re not really interested in high school because of already compromised health, so whatsoninvers.nz will be keeping an eye on the situation as the year goes by.

I have also read recently that wearing masks for long periods of time (such as retailers), insufficiently extracts the carbon dioxide out of our body and keeps recirculating.   This can have negative effects on our health.   I believe it.   Just one round in the supermarket and I’m gasping for a decent breath by the time I get to the checkout.

But for this new strain of virus, the mask may be our best defence, given that it is more contagious than the others.  Sick of reading about Covid?  It’s still the first thing on my mind when I wake up each morning.

What else will be news this year?   Will Mayor Tim Shadbolt continue to make headline news….will he make it through the year?  Will the museum ever open?   What new businesses will we see? – the local small ones particularly….

This ongoing pandemic has opened our eyes to fresh new and innovative thinking, and enabled people with hidden talents to finally find their calling.

Last year we profiled up and coming musicians, bread and cake makers, and witnessed even more acts of community goodwill, such as food parcels being delivered to families in need.

We can feel sad and frustrated that the city might have quietened down for awhile and put stress on the hospitality industry, but the pandemic has also brought the community together in many other ways.