Muslim concerns about the halal status of the COVID-19 vaccine

Jakarta, Indonesia-In October, Indonesian diplomats and Islamic clergy boarded a plane in China. Diplomats were there to complete the deal to ensure that millions of vaccinations reached Indonesian citizens, but clergy had much different concerns: the COVID-19 vaccine was Islamic law. Whether you are allowed to use under.

Questions about the use of pork products banned by some religious groups are concerned about possible interruptions in vaccination campaigns as companies compete for the development of the COVID-19 vaccine and countries vie for doses. Is causing.

Pork-derived gelatin is widely used as a stabilizer. vaccine Safe and effective during storage and transportation.Some companies have been working on pork-free development for years vaccine: Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis manufactures pork-free meningitis vaccine, and Saudi Arabia and Malaysia-based AJ Pharma is currently working on its own vaccine.

However, demand, existing supply chains, costs, and shorter shelf life of vaccines that do not contain porcine gelatin mean that the ingredients are likely to continue to be used in most vaccines for years. Dr. Salman Wakal, General Secretary of British Islamic Medicine, said the association.

Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca spokespersons say that pork products are not part of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, supply is limited and millions of dollars worth of existing transactions with other companies have shown that some Muslim-populated countries, such as Indonesia, have vaccines that have not yet been certified as gelatin-free. Means to receive.

This shows the dilemma that consumption of pork products is considered religiously unclean for the religious community, including Orthodox Jews and Muslims, and how the ban applies to medicine. He said.

“There is disagreement among Islamic scholars about taking something like pork gelatin and whether it undergoes rigorous chemical conversion. It is still considered religiously impure for you to take. Do you want? “

Dr. Harnor Rashid, an associate professor at the University of Sydney, said that the majority of consensus from past discussions about the use of porcine gelatin in vaccines is that “greater harm” occurs if the vaccine is not used. It is acceptable under Islamic law. ..

There is a similar assessment by the broad consensus of religious leaders in the Orthodox Jewish community.

“According to Jewish law, the ban on eating and using pork is only prohibited if it is a natural way of eating,” said Rabbi David Stav of the Israeli rabbi organization Tzohar. The chairman said.

“There is no ban or problem, especially if you’re worried about illness,” he said, when “injected into the body, not by mouth.”

However, there were disagreements on this issue. Some have serious health consequences for Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population of about 225 million.

In 2018, the Indonesian Ulema Council, which issues a certificate that the product is halal or is permitted under Islamic law, says that the measles and rubella vaccine is “haram” or illegal because of gelatin. Declared. Religious and community leaders have begun to urge parents not to vaccinate their children.

“Since then, the number of measles cases has skyrocketed, and Indonesia has the third highest incidence of measles in the world,” said Rachel Howard, director of the Healthcare Market Research Group Research Partnership.

According to Howard, a group of Islamic clergy later issued a decree permitting vaccination, but cultural taboos still led to lower vaccination rates.

“According to our research, some Indonesians are uncomfortable with accepting vaccinations containing these ingredients,” issued a guideline that Islamic authorities are allowed. Even if she said.

The government is taking steps to address this issue. In Malaysia, where vaccination halal status has been identified as the number one problem among Muslim parents, more so that parents have to vaccinate their children or face fines and prison time. Strict laws have been enacted. In Pakistan, where confidence in vaccines has declined for religious and political reasons, parents have been imprisoned for refusing to vaccinate their children with polio.

However, as vaccine hesitation has increased and false information has spread around the world, including religious communities, Rashid said community involvement is “absolutely necessary.”

“It could be disastrous,” he said, without strong community involvement from governments and healthcare professionals.

In Indonesia, the government has already stated that it will include Muslim clerical groups in the COVID-19 vaccine procurement and certification process.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in October that “public relations on halal conditions, prices, quality and distribution must be well prepared.”

During his stay in China in the fall, an Indonesian priest visited the Sinovac Biotech facility in China, and clinical trials with about 1,620 volunteers are underway in Indonesia for the company’s vaccine. The government has announced several COVID-19 vaccine procurement agreements with the company for a total of millions of doses.

Sinovac Biotech and Chinese companies Sinopharm and CanSino Biologics are both using the COVID-19 vaccine in late-stage clinical trials and have received millions of doses worldwide, but component information from the Associated Press. Did not respond to the request.

In China, none of the COVID-19 vaccines have been given final market approval, but more than one million healthcare workers and others who are considered at high risk of infection are under an emergency use authorization. I am receiving the vaccine at. The two companies have yet to clarify the effects of the vaccine and the potential side effects.

Pakistan is a late clinical trial of the CanSino Biologics vaccine. Bangladesh had previously agreed with Sinovac Biotech to conduct a clinical trial in the country, but the trial was postponed due to a funding dispute. Both countries have some of the largest Muslim populations in the world.

Indonesian field health workers continue to focus on virus containment efforts as the number continues to grow, but reassure Indonesians that the use of the COVID-19 vaccine has been approved. Government efforts are key to the success of the vaccination campaign, Wakal said.

However, he said that the companies that manufacture vaccines must also be part of such community efforts.

“The more transparent they are, the more open and honest they are about their product, the more confident they are in the product and the more informed discussions there are about what they want to do. It’s more likely. “He said.

“After all, it’s a personal choice.”

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Associated Press writers Edna Tarigan of Jakarta, Indonesia and Ilan Ben Zion of Jerusalem contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press’s Department of Health Sciences is supported by the Department of Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. AP is solely responsible for all content.