COVID-19: Pakistanis Risk Losing Cellphone Service Over Rejection Of Vaccine

Authorities in Pakistan have been forced to take drastic measures, including blocking citizens' cellphone service in two provinces over their failure to get vaccinated amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The New York Times reports that apart from blocking the cellphone service of Pakistanis, the government is also suspending the salaries of its employees who have not gotten the vaccine jab.

According to the report, the new measures have become necessary following the skepticism surrounding COVID-19 vaccines in the country as Pakistan has struggled with disinformation about vaccines proven to be safe and effective.

In Pakistan, parents usually reject polio immunization for their children, holding on to the belief that the vaccine is harmful and part of an American plot to have their kids sterilized.

Recently, new conspiracy theories about the side effects of the COVID-19 have continued to spread like wildfire.

Ehsan Ahmed, a truck driver in Karachi, said: "I have heard that people, after getting the coronavirus jab, will die within the two years. It is the reason that in our extended family of at least 25 people, no one is willing to vaccinate themselves."

The Pakistani government aims to vaccinate between 45 million to 65 million people by the end of 2021 and has announced plans spend $1.1 billion to acquire doses.

As of Tuesday, the country had vaccinated about 3 million people (less than 2 percent of its population) since the onset of the vaccination exercise on February 3, 2021, as revealed by data provided by authorities.