File photo. Joe Raedle-Getty Images North America—AFP
In letter, provincial health department urges NCOC to direct banks, post offices to restrict services to vaccinated citizens
The Sindh Health Department on Sunday urged the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) overseeing Pakistan’s response to the coronavirus pandemic to make vaccination certificates mandatory for citizens wishing to utilize banks and post offices.
In a letter, the provincial health department requested the NCOC to issue instructions for banks and post office staff to refuse services to anyone who could not produce a valid vaccination certificate.
In a separate letter, also written on Sunday, the health department urged the home department to ensure that any enforcement of COVID-19 SOPs at restaurants and hotels is linked to verifying vaccination certificates of customers. It noted that, under pre-existing SOPs, citizens without vaccination certificates could not dine-in at restaurants or stay at any hotels.
The Sindh government’s latest bid to boost vaccination numbers comes against a slew of restrictions imposed in various parts of the country to encourage inoculations. In Punjab capital Lahore, unvaccinated individuals are barred from purchasing fuel, while provincial authorities have said that anyone wishing to utilize highways and motorways would need to show proof of vaccination.
Planning Minister Asad Umar, last month, announced that unvaccinated citizens would be barred from using public transport nationwide from Oct. 15, adding that domestic air travel would also be restricted to fully vaccinated individuals from Sept. 30. While the government’s initial penalties for unvaccinated were focused on staff of high-risk areas, it has increasingly turned its sights on civilians as a fourth wave of COVID-19, driven primarily by the Delta variant, continues to sweep through the country.
In his press conference, Umar said that unvaccinated people would not be allowed to enter shopping malls from Aug. 31, adding that only people who have been fully vaccinated could do so from Sept. 30. He also said that only partially vaccinated individuals would be allowed to utilize hotels and restaurants from Aug. 31, adding that from Sept. 30 only fully vaccinated individuals would have access to these facilities.