Pakistan's Punjab province tells citizens to get jabbed or have their SIM card blocked
- Reference: 1623436145
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/06/11/punjab_vaccine_sim_card/
- Source link:
As reported by [1]local newspapers , and [2]confirmed by the Punjab health authority , those who swerve the COVID-19 vaccine may find their mobile SIM "blocked" in response.
The move has come at a crucial juncture for Punjab's vaccine rollout, with shots now available to those over the age of 18.
[3]
Vaccine hesitancy is a major concern for the Pakistani government. The results of one Gallup survey published in March of this year showed 19 per cent of Pakistani health professionals [4]would not take up the jab if offered [PDF].
[5]
[6]
When looking at the wider public, the number of people who say they would not accept a jab jumps to [7]nearly 30 per cent , according to a survey fielded between December 2020 and January 2021.
According to [8]research from academics in Spain and the UK , this reluctance has been fuelled partially by an incident where the CIA used a hepatitis B vaccine drive in its search for Osama bin Laden. The operation sought to obtain DNA samples from infants in order to find a genetic match with the fugitive terrorist leader.
[9]NHS App gets go-ahead for vaccine passport use despite protest from privacy groups
[10]NHS Digital booking website had unexpected side effect: It leaked people's jab status
[11]Wipro rolls out 'COVID-19 vaccination camps' in India to keep staff alive during virus super-surge
[12]India's open-source advocacy org assists lawsuit opposing COVID-19 vaccine policy
According to the study, this led to a massive drop in vaccine uptake within regions with a tendency for religious conservatism. In the areas studied, vaccination rates for polio declined by 28 per cent, with a 39 drop in measles jabs administered.
As is the case everywhere else in the world, the phenomenon of fake news has also contributed to this widespread hesitancy, with social media and WhatsApp [13]regular conduits for misinformation .
[14]
By threatening to block mobile access, the Punjabi government has effectively threatened to disconnect people from the internet, and thus massively disrupt their day-to-day lives. Traditional PC ownership in Pakistan is relatively low, [15]according to a 2018 survey , with most people connecting via smartphones and feature phones.
Pakistan requires all SIM/IMEI based devices (dongle, mobile phones, smart watches, tablets etc) to be registered upon purchase
[16]PDF
.Authorities in the US have attempted to increase vaccination rates by offering [17]a variety of incentives , from entrants into statewide lotteries with million-dollar prizes, to free beer.
[18]
Here in the UK, the sole incentive to get the jab is a reprieve from pandemic lockdown life. Given the relatively high uptake levels, it's clear most Brits regard a slightly sore arm as a price worth paying for a return to "normality".
The Register has contacted the Punjab regional government to ascertain how it intends to put this new rule into practice, and whether it plans to introduce legislation that would enshrine it into law. ®
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[1] https://www.dawn.com/news/1628625/punjab-govt-decides-to-block-sim-cards-of-people-refusing-vaccines
[2] https://twitter.com/PSHDept/status/1403093859941376001/photo/1
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YMPc@4f7VBQ2ax6k81VkyQAAAJQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://gallup.com.pk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/PIMA-Gallup-PR-revised-1.pdf
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YMPc@4f7VBQ2ax6k81VkyQAAAJQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YMPc@4f7VBQ2ax6k81VkyQAAAJQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/covid19/2021/04/22/vaccine-hesitancy-in-pakistan-is-growing-heres-how-it-can-be-tackled/
[8] https://academic.oup.com/jeea/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jeea/jvab018/6271320?redirectedFrom=fulltext
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/11/nhs_app_vaccine_passport_england/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/06/coronavirus_vaccine_nhs_england_data_leak/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/05/india_tech_vaccine/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/28/sflc_covid_vaccine_petition/
[13] https://firstdraftnews.org/articles/how-fake-videos-unravelled-pakistans-war-on-polio/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YMPc@4f7VBQ2ax6k81VkyQAAAJQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/391338-pakistan-s-urban-rural-mobile-ownership-divide-set-to-close-soon-study-shows#:~:text=%E2%80%9CHowever%2C%20only%20two%20percent%20(,of%20Internet%20in%20the%20country.%E2%80%9D
[16] https://www.pta.gov.pk/assets/media/dirbs_faqs_04032020.pdf
[17] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-57201111
[18] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YMPc@4f7VBQ2ax6k81VkyQAAAJQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Hmm, awkward
It's not forcing them, it's at most coercing them.
But that aside, it feels proportionate to me. Typhoid Mary lost her liberty for egregiously refusing to believe that she was highly infectious, evidence be damned.
So just losing your phone during a public medical emergency because you refuse to act rationally and are potentially endangering others is fair enough.
You know, given that it's already well-established that the liberty of individuals can be restricted for the benefit of society, and that actions should be punishable orthogonally to consequences.
Makes no sense
It would be easier to just punish the person whose name is on the list as not receiving the vaccine rather than figuring out what SIM devices they own or by excluding SIMs everyone else owns. e.g. slap a punitive tax on them which they have a chance to avoid by getting vaccinated.
Sorry guv, I didn't get the text to confirm my jab appointment.
F... an
vaccination rates for polio declined by 28 per cent
Isn't this one of the few places where poliomyelitis is still endemic?
A better incentive
for those who, for fantasy reasons or delusional beliefs, refuse to protect everyone else by being vaccinated (for anything, not just COVID-19) would be
compulsory isolation and infection with the disease that they refuse to vaccinate themselves or their children against.
For those who are still amenable to having their minds changed, they will get vaccinated.
For those who still refuse, you accelerate the Darwinian process and improve the gene pool.
(Yes, I'm not *completely* serious, but if it wasn't for vaccination, smallpox and polio would still be endemic. Stupidity is not a valid excuse to refuse to vaccinate, when refusal adventures other people's lives. Nobody has the right to refuse vaccination "because a bloke down the pub told me that the vaccine is a cover for a secret government project to brainwash everyone". They already have television to do that and it works very well.)
Hmm, awkward
People should get vaccinated, but governments shouldn't force them. On this occasion, I therefore find myself on the side of the religious nutjobs who are endangering not only themselves but also their friends and families.