An anti-vaccination protest at Auckland Domain. Photo / Brett Phibbs
An anti-vaccination protest at Auckland Domain. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Opinion
As we say goodbye to 2021 and welcome in 2022, it's a good time to catch up on the very best of the Herald columnists we enjoyed reading over the last 12 months. From politics to sport, from business to entertainment and lifestyle, these are the voices and views ouraudience loved the most. Today it's the top five from Cecilia Robinson.
No room for anti-vaxxers, conspiracists - August 29
With case numbers continuing to climb, it's clear to me that our only pathway out of this is vaccination.
That is why I was disappointed the Prime Minister has failed to set a clear vaccination target for the country.
In my view, our goal should be that everyone who is eligible and able to be must be vaccinated.
The Whanganui Covid-19 vaccination centre. Photo / Bevan Conley
The issue with single-sex schooling - July 29
New Zealand has an issue with how we teach our young people to interact with the opposite sex, and I believe this is the result of our culture with single-sex schooling.
Single-sex schooling is mandatory in parts of Africa and the Middle East, as well as on the rise in places such as China, where the academic achievements of girls overtaking boys over recent decades has brought a "resurgence" of single-sex education.
Single-sex schooling is something I had to come to terms with since moving here after being brought up in Sweden, where it simply does not exist.
However, both my father and husband are products of single-sex schools, so I feel I can speak on the matter, although the world has changed significantly since they were at school.
Surely, girls and boys being taught how to positively collaborate and work together will drive better societal outcomes? Photo /123RF
Reflections from a maternity ward - October 12
Last week, we were blessed to welcome our new son Charlie into the world.
Charlie was delivered through an elective c-section and we spent four days in Auckland Hospital's maternity ward. Having a baby is a nerve-racking experience. This was all the more frightening as Auckland was battling its latest Covid outbreak.
While Covid really should be treated at a primary healthcare level, hospitals are the frontline in our fight, so we expected cases could have been present.
We weren't expecting to discover a Covid-positive case visited the NICU during our stay. We had initially and briefly stayed in a joint room with another couple who had their child in NICU, bringing home the severity of the situation. I felt a huge sense of trepidation.
But I also have never been more thankful to have made the decision to be vaccinated while I was pregnant.
Checks being carried out on a newborn baby. Photo / 123RF
What Govt must do now - September 18
A month into level 4 restrictions and many people are at breaking point.
On Zoom and google hangouts, I see the strain written across the faces of my colleagues, family and friends.
I see the stress in those who have lost everything in the last 18 months, forced to close businesses that were unable to survive the repeated lockdowns Auckland has endured.
I see it in the heartbreak of families who are grappling with the reality that they are separated from loved ones in other countries and who have no idea of if and when they might be reunited.
Each lockdown provided an opportunity to learn lessons to prevent another, yet we failed to learn these lessons.
The Auckland lockdown hit hospitality hard. Photo / Alex Burton
Time to fund Pharmac properly - June 6
Budget 2021 saw an extra $200 million over four years given to Pharmac. Last week the media was up in arms over the funding gap, but this week, it has gone quiet. The truth is that every year this issue simply gets swept under the carpet.
The drug-buying agency now has more than $1 billion to spend every year, an increase of more than 25 per cent since Labour came to power in 2018.
On paper this might seem significant, but the truth is it is nowhere near enough.
Why? Because we have been underinvesting in Pharmac for years and its responsibilities are being extended to include hospital medicines and medical devices, without the necessary ring-fencing of its pharmaceutical budget.
