Pakistan to ban train travel for unvaccinated starting in October

Pakistan announced a ban on train travel starting in October for unvaccinated people as part of the country's measures to counter vaccine hesitancy and nudge citizens into getting a jab.

Millions of people in Pakistan remain unwilling to receive a shot in the arm despite a surge in new infections and sufficient vaccine supplies.

The decision would come into effect from October 1, a health ministry official said on Tuesday.

Railways are one of the major modes of transportation and nearly 40 million people travel by train every year, according to a recent economic survey.

Domestic air travel for the unvaccinated has already been banned from this month.

The reasons for vaccine hesitancy are multi-faceted and involves social media, which is full of baseless conspiracy theories.

According to a Gallup Pakistan survey in January, 49 per cent of respondents said they would opt out of the jab, as they considered the coronavirus threat to be exaggerated.

But openness to getting vaccinated has improved and 66 per cent of people are now willing to receive a shot, according to a recent survey.

The government-run vaccination drive started in February and was initially slow, but the campaign has started picking up pace as nearly 1 million people are receiving the jabs every day.

More than 37 million people have been administered at least one dose. The goal is to have 80 million people vaccinated by the end of this year.

Authorities have also asked public servants, teachers and students above 18 to get vaccinated by the end of August.

There were 3,884 new cases during the last 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry. Pakistan has so far recorded 1,075,504 cases and 24,004 deaths.