Jakarta, Indonesia (AP) – In October, Indonesian diplomats and Muslim clerics boarded a plane in China. While diplomats were finalizing the deal to ensure millions of doses reach Indonesian citizens, clerics had a very different concern: whether the COVID-19 vaccine is legal to use under Islamic law.
Companies are in the race to develop the COVID-19 vaccine, and questions have been raised about the use of diving pork products by countries to protect dosages – banned by some religious groups – and the possibility of disruption of the vaccination campaign.
Gelatin made from pork is widely used as a stabilizer to ensure that the vaccine is safe and effective during storage and transport. Several companies have been working for years to develop a pork-free vaccine: Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has developed a pork-free meningitis vaccine, while Saudi- and Malaysia-based AJ Pharma is currently working on one of them.
The General Secretary of British Islamic Medical, Dr. Salman Waqar said the short shelf life of vaccines without demand, existing supply chain, cost and porcine gelatin means that the ingredient is likely to continue to be used in most vaccines over the years. Organization.
A spokesman for Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca said pork products were not part of their COVID-19 vaccine. But the limited supply and pre-existing deals of millions of dollars with other companies mean that some countries with large Muslim populations, such as Indonesia, will take the vaccine which is not yet certified to be gelatin free.
He said there is confusion for religious communities, including Orthodox Jews and Muslims, where the consumption of pork products is considered religiously unclean, and how the ban on medicine is enforced.
“There are differences among Islamic scholars that you take something like pork gelatin and chemically alter it,” Waqar said. “Do you still consider it religiously unclean to take it?”
The majority consensus from past discussions on the use of pork gelatin in vaccines is that it is valid under Islamic law, as there is “more harm” if the vaccine is not used, said Dr Harnoor Rashid, an associate professor at the University of Sydney. .
A similar assessment has been made by the broad consensus of religious leaders in the Jewish Jewish community.
“Under Jewish law, eating pork or using pork is forbidden only when it is a natural way of eating,” said Rabbi David Steve, president of Israel’s rabbinical organization, Tsohar.
“If it is injected into the body, not through the mouth (eaten),” there is no taboo and no problem, especially when we worry about illnesses, “he said.
Still, there are dissenting opinions on the issue – some with some serious health consequences for Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, some at 225 million.
In 2018, the Ulema Council of Indonesia, a Muslim clerical organization that certifies products that are halal or valid under Islamic law, ruled that the measles and rubella vaccines are “haram,” or illegal, due to gelatin. Religious and community leaders began urging parents not to vaccinate their children.
“The measles case gives Indonesia the third highest rate of measles since the measles case,” said Rachel Howard, director of the Health Care Market Research Group Research Partnership.
A decree was later issued by the Muslim clerk’s organization, which allowed vaccinations, but continued because of the low rate of vaccinations following cultural restrictions, Howard said.
“Our study has found that some Muslims in Indonesia are uncomfortable accepting vaccines with these ingredients,” he said, adding that they are allowed even when Muslim authorities issue guidelines.
Governments have taken steps to address this issue. In Malaysia, where the halal status of the vaccine has been identified as the biggest problem Among Muslim parents, strict laws have been enacted so that parents have to vaccinate their children or face fines and jail time. In Pakistan, where vaccine confidence is declining For religious and political reasons, the parents have been imprisoned For refusing to vaccinate their children against polio.
But amid growing hesitation and misinformation about vaccinations around the world, including in religious communities, Rashid said community engagement was “absolutely necessary.”
“If it can be devastating,” he said, unless there is a strong community connection by governments and healthcare activists.
In Indonesia, the government has already said it will involve a Muslim clerk’s body in the Kovid-19 vaccine procurement and certification process.
“Public communication about the status, price, quality and distribution of halal should be well prepared,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in October.
While they were in China in the fall, Indonesian clerics inspected China’s Synovac Biotech facilities and clinical trials involving 1,620 volunteers in Indonesia for the company’s vaccine are also underway. The government has announced several Covid-19 vaccine procurement deals with the company in crores of doses.
Synovac Biotech, as well as Chinese companies Sinofarm and Cancino Biologics – all of which have Covid-19 vaccines in end-stage clinical trials and deals to sell millions of doses worldwide – have not responded to an Associated Press request for component information.
In China, no Kovid-19 vaccine has been finally approved for market, but more than 1 million health care workers and others who are considered at risk of infection Under emergency use permission. The companies have not yet disclosed how effective the vaccine is or the possible side effects.
Pakistan is the end-stage clinical trials of the Cancino Biologics vaccine. Bangladesh had earlier signed an agreement with Synovac Biotech to conduct clinical trials in the country, but the trials have been delayed due to a funding dispute. Both countries have the largest Muslim population in the world.
While health care workers on the ground in Indonesia are still struggling to contain the virus as the numbers grow, Waqar said the government’s efforts to reassure Indonesians would be the key to a successful vaccination campaign as the use of the Kovid-19 vaccine has been approved. .
But, he said, vaccine companies must also be part of such a community.
“The more transparent they are, the more open and honest they are about their product, the more likely it is that there will be communities that believe in the product and will be able to discuss information about what they want to do,” he said.
“Because, ultimately, it’s a choice of individuals.”
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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 The Department of Health and Science is supported by the Department of Science Education at Howard Hughes Medical Institute. AP is fully responsible for all content.
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