ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government on Saturday made it compulsory for teachers and school support staff to get vaccinated by June 10, adding it was necessary to ensure safe continuation of activities in the education sector.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) which evaluated the overall COVID-19 situation in the country and expressed concern at the high disease prevalence in Sindh province.
The meeting agreed to provide “walk-in vaccination facility to all teachers and school staff above 18 years of age” to resume academic activities across Pakistan.
The NCOC also made it mandatory for all travelers from the United Arab Emirates to bring negative coronavirus test results from authorized laboratories.
“In case of violations, airlines will be fined for accepting passengers with PCR [polymerase chain reaction] results from unauthorized laboratories,” the forum said in its official statement. “This is being done to ensure that no passenger with fake test result can enter the country.”
The handout announced that passengers would be tested after reaching Pakistan, adding that anyone testing positive would undergo a strict quarantine mechanism.
Other than that, the NCOC said tourists aged 50 and above would not be allowed to stay in hotels without vaccination certificates in tourism districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Kashmir from June 1.
“The same restriction will be applied to tourists above 30 years from 1st July,” the handout added.
Pakistan recorded 2,455 new coronavirus cases and 73 related deaths in the last 24 hours on Saturday.
The country has so far vaccinated 6,130,509 people since it started its immunization drive in February, though 3,180,246 people are still partially vaccinated.
The NCOC decided in its latest meeting to open amusement and water parks from May 30 in districts where the positivity ratio is less than five percent, though it warned that the occupancy rate of these recreational facilities should not exceed 50 percent and they must follow strict health safety protocols.