There is increasing evidence that loopholes in the government’s vaccination management system’s is being exploited by unscrupulous elements to udermine it. As the system is computerised, it means that the complicity of fewer officials is needed, and because it is new, it is impossible to blame on previous governments, though that means that it is possible to eradicate it, before it takes root and becomes part of ‘the way things are done.’ Perhaps the most egregious case is that of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif, who is on the National Immunization Management System, and who it shows was vaccinated in a Lahore hospital on Wednesday. The detection of a gang by the Punjab government shows that malpractices have crept in, whereby fake vaccination certificates are issued. This was proved to Asad Umar, the minister who chairs the National Operation Command Centre Committee, by a journalist who showed him a vaccination certificate obtained without having been vaccinated.
The covid-19 pandemic has brought the problem of a demand for vaccination certificates. These certificates are now needed for a wide range of activities, and clearly there are those who exploit the system illegally. One problem is that the certificates could end up valueless, having lost all credibility. The recent reversal of the ‘red’ status of travellers to and from the UK was because of a trust in Pakistani certificates. If that trust is no longer there, then the ban can be slapped on travellers once again, Worse, it might well mean that unvaccinated people can go about their business, yet spreading the infection. It also means that the disabilities which the government is inflicting on the unvaccinated will become meaningless.
The government must ensure that vaccination scams are stopped before the tipping point is reached, where it becomes more convenient (though more expensive) to get a fake certificate rather than a genuine one. That can only be done by punishing the ones tha crop up. So far, only the doctors involved in the Nawaz case have been suspended, while Asad Umar has threatened the reporter with action for doing something illegal, rather than taking action against the officials esponsible. This method of corrurption must be stopped before it is too late.
