Another year

Big policy questions for research remain for 2022

As restrictions are tightened amid fears of a huge wave of the new coronavirus variant, the end of 2021 has a strong sense of déjà vu about it. 

Last December, the country was heading into a Christmas lockdown and universities were left hanging on whether, and how, students might return in January. This time around, with vaccinations rolled out across the adult population and offering at least some protection against Omicron, the situation is more hopeful. Nonetheless, university heads will be watching case numbers and the rollout of the vaccine booster programme carefully over the coming weeks.