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The Sindh government has ordered to halt the salaries of all public employees who refuse to get themselves vaccinated against the novel coronavirus. The province is seeing a gradual rise in the number of cases and the situation is far from satisfactory. However, there is still widespread vaccine hesitancy and even outright refusal from many people including healthcare workers.
The nation has administered more than seven million doses so far but still less than one percent of the population is fully vaccinated. Despite the declining number of cases, Pakistan is still being lumped with countries such as India, Nepal, and Bangladesh and many countries have imposed stringent travel restrictions. Countries such UAE and Turkey have also limited flights and imposed quarantine rules. An average of 50,000 tests are being conducted regularly which is one of the lowest in the region.
The government is still indecisive about when it would hold examinations for students. It has scrapped exams for lower grades but has decided to conduct for matriculation and intermediate in the sweltering July summers. The federating units, notably Sindh, have digressed and will announce their own dates but have decided to keep schools closed until the number of cases doesn’t drop and the situation does not improve.
Our lives have slowly begun to adapt to the changing conditions but many businesses have suffered tremendously. Restaurants and cafés are on the verge of collapse after remaining partially closed for more than a year. The traders have protested of being targeted and want restrictions to be curbed. Since the pandemic is unlikely to subside anytime soon, we will see continue seeing disturbances in our lives.
It is now imperative that the government should expedite the vaccination campaign. This is our best defence as it helps reduce mortality rates. There is an urgent need to set up more vaccination centres and expand the programme to small towns and cities. We should be warned that the Indian variant which spread much faster has been detected and the situation can worsen if adequate precautions are not taken.
