Sindh govt decides to approach PTA for blocking SIMs of unvaccinated people

KARACHI: The Sindh government has decided to approach Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to block SIMs of unvaccinated people amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the province, ARY NEWS reported on Friday.

The decision was shared by the Spokesman for the Sindh government and Adviser to CM Sindh on Environment Murtaza Wahab from his Twitter handle.

#SindhGovt has decided to write to NCOC & PTA that mobile sims of unvaccinated people should be blocked

— Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui (@murtazawahab1) July 23, 2021

He said that the provincial government would approach National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) and PTA to block SIMs of unvaccinated people.

Chief Minister Sindh has also said that the PTA would be approached through the federal government to send messages to users to get vaccinated and those not getting a jab in a week will face blocking of their SIMs.

The chief minister further directed the provincial authorities to communicate the Sindh government’s decision to the NCOC.

“We will decide on stopping salaries of the government employees who are still unvaccinated from next month,” he said and directed the secretary of finance to reach out to the accountant general (AG) Sindh in this regard.

Previously, the province has taken other measures to encourage the vaccination process after Information Minister Nasir Hussain Shah warned on June 15 that the salaries of those government employees who are not getting themselves vaccinated against the coronavirus would be stopped.

Government employees will not get promotions unless they are vaccinated against COVID-19, he added.

Sindh would be the second province after Punjab where the provincial government had decided to block SIM cards of all those citizens who refuse to get themselves vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.

The decision was taken at a meeting presided over by health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid at the Punjab Civil Secretariat on June 09.