After a long slump in the vaccination percentage in Pakistan from 8.64% in early July, there can be seen a sharp rise in the number of first and second doses administered to the people at the latter end of the month. The vaccination count which was on a gradual increase over the weeks took a sharp turn upwards in a matter of days which led to the percentage amounting to 13.84% on August 1st, 2021.
This rise can be attributed to the three-tier strategy system being used by the government, which consists of voluntary administration through mass awareness, mandatory vaccinations for public and private sector employees, and an incentivized system of prizes and penalties. The penalties range from disabling the sim cards of those remaining unvaccinated to prohibiting individuals from using services such as travel, transport, eateries, schools, and malls without a vaccination certificate, and even withholding salaries as announced by the Sindh government.
While it may be unethical to use penalties such as restricting salaries until vaccination, the sim card policy has proven to be effective as people rushed to vaccination centers to keep operating their sim cards in Karachi. In consequence, Health Minister Faisal Sultan reported that 1 million vaccinations were administered on August, 2nd, which is the highest recorded so far in Pakistan.
