Tens of thousands of Pakistanis are thronging coronavirus vaccination centres daily after officials announced penalties for the unvaccinated, including blocked cell phones and barred access to offices, restaurants, shopping malls and transport.
Queues for inoculations stretched more than a kilometre in some locations this week, in response to measures designed to help slow a Delta variant-fuelled surge in infections that has put pressure on Pakistan’s poor health infrastructure.
In a country that has a long anti-vaccination history, health workers said many in line were more afraid of the restrictions – some started Aug. 1 while others kick in on Aug. 30 – than the health threat of COVID-19.Pakistan’s federal government announced late last month it would ban staff from entering public offices, schools, restaurants, transport, shopping malls and air travel without vaccination certificates.
The local government in the southern province of Sindh went even further, warning it could withhold the salaries of government servants and block people’s cellphone SIM cards unless they had the required certificates. (Reuters)