LAHORE – A Pakistani province today said it will block the mobile phones of people refusing to get the Covid-19 jab, in the latest move to penalise the unvaccinated in a country where only a fraction of the population has been inoculated.
It comes after Sindh province said civil servants who refuse to be vaccinated will not be paid from next month.
A third wave of infections has begun to stabilise in Pakistan after weeks of tough restrictions, and in Punjab – the country’s most populous province that includes the mega city of Lahore – demand for jabs has slowed.
“At first, this was only a proposal, but people have been very hesitant about getting vaccinated, so the decision was made,” said Hammad Raza, spokesman for the Punjab Primary Health Department.
He said the state telecoms agency will decide how to implement the measure.
Pakistan’s nationwide vaccine roll-out has ramped up in recent weeks, with more than 200,000 doses administered most days, but this adds up to only a fraction of its 220 million population.
Almost 10.5 million doses have been administered, with China supplying most of the vaccines.
But, concerns about the side effects of the jab, coupled with misinformation that it causes infertility or death within two years, have sparked vaccine hesitancy.
“Pakistan’s education level is low. People are also spreading rumours and misinformation about the vaccines,” Salman Haseeb, head of the country’s Young Doctors’ Association, told AFP.
“So, information campaigns by the government won’t work for the short term. They will have to make use of the law to ensure everyone gets vaccinated.”
Under new incentives, those who do get vaccinated will be allowed access to cinemas, celebration halls and shrines, while restrictions will be lifted on businesses in districts with more than 20% of the population protected.
Mobile vaccination centres will also be set up outside shrines to reach people in rural areas.
Pakistan has recorded more than 940,000 Covid-19 infections and 21,500 deaths, but with limited testing and a ramshackle healthcare sector, many fear the true extent of the disease is much worse.
National data also shows that around 300,000 recipients of the first vaccine dose have not returned for the second. – AFP, June 11, 2021
