No jab, no phone: Unvaccinated to have SIM cards blocked, Pakistanâ€™s Punjab govt says

sermonindex Jun 12, 2021

Punjab’s provincial government is turning to coercive measures to increase participation in its Covid-19 vaccination program, after unveiling plans to disable the SIM cards of people who decline to get jabbed.
The extreme decision was made during a meeting of high-ranking civil and military officials chaired by Punjab Health Minister Yasmin Rashid.

Rashid said that the policy would disable SIM cards belonging to those who fail to get vaccinated "beyond a certain time.”

"We are doing all we can to compel people to get vaccinated… The government cannot allow individuals, who do not want to get vaccinated, to risk lives of those who are already vaccinated,” the health minister told Pakistan’s Express Tribune. She said that the provincial government would devise a timeline for the policy’s implementation once it received formal approval from the National Command and Operation Center, which coordinates Pakistan’s national response to Covid-19.

Punjab’s Primary and Secondary Health Department announced the measure on Thursday in a tweet detailing the outcome of the meeting.

"Mobile SIMS of people not getting vaccinated may be blocked,” the department wrote.

Officials later signaled that the plan was moving forward.

"[A] final decision has been taken to block the mobile SIM cards of people not getting vaccinated,” Punjab Specialized Healthcare Department spokesman Syed Hammad Raza told Dawn, a Pakistani daily.

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billy1980 Jun 13, 2021

A sim card is what allows us to make calls on our cellphones. It connects us to whatever cellular network we pay for monthly. Sim cards are in every cellphone, smart or flip at this time,

We have many options in America to buy a cellphone with service at this time. From prepaid to post paid. However I cannot speak for other countries. They might be very limited in such areas.

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Jeremy221 Jun 13, 2021

In some parts of the world it’s far easier to get a SIM card than a landline. Add that they are linked to a person’s national ID. People’s entire internet and personal info can linked to a phone. If their phone gets shut off they will lose tons of business. Can you imagine what it would be like to be cut off from the internet and phone access?

I haven’t read the linked article but it’s likely related to remaining in the global market and allowing citizens to immigrate for work and send home money for their families and relatives. There are several countries that rely on this economic model.

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drifter Jun 14, 2021

Tony Blair was just on the news calling for mandatory vaccine passports.

Then he started talking about a "global biometric ID".

Makes you think.

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Jeremy221 Jun 14, 2021

These people have slowly rolling out global biometric data collection for several years already. The first place I saw it mandated was getting visas and going through immigration in Cambodia. Almost 10 years ago they were already taking full left of right hand fingerprints as well as photos and even potentially retinal scans. If you travel to most countries today they scan your index fingers and take your photo. It’s more established than you’d imagine.

Despite the threats, I am always brought back to the verse from 1 Peter stating "having food and clothing, it is enough.”

Edit: Clarification about Cambodia

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Lordoitagain Jun 18, 2021

"We are doing all we can to compel people to get vaccinated… The government cannot allow individuals, who do not want to get vaccinated, to risk lives of those who are already vaccinated,”

This almost makes me think that there is a wicked spirit of delusion involved in the propaganda about this jab! This is SOOOO AGAINST LOGIC!!!! If the jab is supposed to protect those who have it how can those who do not have it be a risk to those who have been vaccinated????

How can they convince rational sane sober minded human beings of such illogical insanity without the involvement of demons of delusion?

We are at war brothers and sisters, but we are going to win because GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN US than the spirits of delusion that are taking over these people. We will pray and logic and sanity will return!!!!

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TMK Jun 18, 2021

Regardless of the ridiculousness of the policy, vaccines are around 91% effective once they fully take hold. So there is a short period after receiving the vaccine where a person is not protected and they are not 100% protected thereafter. I can only assume the concern was along those lines.

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drifter Jun 18, 2021

I respect other people's decision to get the vaccine; I only hope the same respect is extended to me to not get the vaccine.

It has very little to do with my concerns of the efficacy of the vaccine, its experimental nature, or potential side effects. It has more to do with my God given rights as an individual being trampled upon by coercive measures taken by the government.