Pakistan province to block salaries of unvaccinated employees

The head of Sindh, a Pakistan province has ordered that government employees who refuse to receive Covid vaccine would not be paid starting next month. Murad Ali Shah, Chief Minister of Sindh made the announced the decision after meeting health officials. First cases of the delta variant of coronavirus have been detected in Sindh.

"Any government employee who is not vaccinated should have their salary stopped from July," he tweeted, adding that orders had been given to the finance ministry.

Third wave of coronavirus infections has begun to stabilise in the country after weeks of restrictions on public gatherings. However, Sindh has reported highest number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

Pakistan's initially sluggish vaccination rollout has been ramped up in recent weeks with more than 200,000 doses administered most days.

But the impoverished country has fully vaccinated only around 2.2 million people -- a fraction of its 220 million population.

Misinformation and conspiracy theories about the side effects of the jab have sparked hesitancy in Pakistan, while the requirement to have a mobile phone to register for a shot has proved a barrier for some poor and illiterate citizens.

Those in rural areas have also struggled to get access to vaccine centres, the majority of which are in major cities.

The Sindh salary order mystified employee representatives.

"This is a strange order, as people are very much volunteering and willing to get vaccinated," said Liaqat Sahi, the secretary general of a labour union at the central State Bank of Pakistan, adding that he has been vaccinated.

"Instead the government should... create more vaccination centres, especially in rural areas."
Pakistan has recorded more than 850,000 infections and 21,022 deaths, but with limited testing and a ramshackle healthcare sector, many fear the true extent of the disease is much worse.

(With inputs from agencies)