Pakistanis will need vaccination certificates to travel, teach

Islamabad, Aug 24 (EFE).- Pakistanis would Covid-19 vaccination certificates to travel, teach in classrooms and visit shopping centers, the government said Tuesday, in a move to encourage more people to get inoculated amid vaccine hesitancy in the country.

Almost 13.5 million people are fully inoculated in a country of nearly 220 million inhabitants.

The figure is far from the official target to vaccinate 70 million people by the year-end.

Asad Umar, the minister for the Covid-19 response, said the new measure was to promote vaccination and speed up the drive.

“Most public places are covered by this obligatory regime,” Umar told reporters.

As of Sep.30, traveling within or outside the country would be allowed if aspirants have received both vaccine doses, said Umar.

From mid-October, the measure will also be applicable to travel in public transport throughout the country.

Teachers and other public workers are also needed to get vaccinated to carry on with their work.

Visitors to shopping centers, hotels, and restaurants should also have received vaccinations by the end of September.

Many Pakistanis are reluctant to get vaccinated because they believe that it is anti-Islamic.

Some conspiracy theories claim that vaccination causes infertility or makes women grow mustaches and beards.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio continues to be endemic due to vaccine hesitancy.

The country is in the middle of the fourth Covid-19 wave with a positivity rate above 6 percent.

In the past 24 hours, 91 people died from the virus, bringing the total fatality to 25,094 since the pandemic began.

Some 4,075 tested positive over the past day, raising the overall caseload to more than 1.1 million. EFE

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