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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – In October, Indonesian diplomats and Muslim clerics got off a plane in China. While diplomats were there to finalize deals to ensure millions of doses reached Indonesian citizens, the clerics had a very different concern: whether the COVID-19 vaccine was allowed for use under Islamic law.
As companies rush to develop a COVID-19 vaccine and countries scramble to secure dosages, questions about the use of pork products, banned by some religious groups, have raised concerns about the possibility of cuts being made. immunization campaigns.
Pork derived gelatin has been used extensively as a stabilizer to ensure that vaccines remain safe and effective during storage and transportation. Some companies have worked for years to develop pig-free vaccines: Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has produced a pig-free meningitis vaccine, while AJ Pharma, based in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, is currently working on its own.
But the demand, existing supply chains, cost, and shorter shelf life of vaccines that don’t contain porcine gelatin mean the ingredient is likely to continue to be used in most vaccines for years to come, said Dr. Salman Waqar. , Secretary General of British Islamic Medical. Association.
Spokespersons for Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca have said that pork products are not part of their COVID-19 vaccines. But limited supply and pre-existing millions of dollars worth of deals with other companies mean that some countries with large Muslim populations, like Indonesia, will receive vaccines that have not yet been certified as gelatin-free.
This presents a dilemma for religious communities, including Orthodox Jews and Muslims, where consumption of pork products is considered religiously unclean and how the ban applies to medicine, he said.
“There is a difference of opinion among Islamic scholars on whether you take something like pork jelly and undergo a rigorous chemical transformation,” Waqar said. “Is it still considered to be religiously unclean for you to take?”
The majority consensus from previous discussions on the use of pork gelatin in vaccines is that it is permitted by Islamic law, as “greater harm” would occur if the vaccines were not used, said Associate Professor Dr. Harunor Rashid from the University of Sydney. .
There is also a similar assessment by a broad consensus of religious leaders in the Orthodox Jewish community.
“According to Jewish law, the prohibition of eating pork or using pork is only prohibited when it is a natural way to eat it,” said Rabbi David Stav, president of Tzohar, a rabbinical organization in Israel.
If “it is injected into the body, not (eaten) by mouth,” then “there is no prohibition or problem, especially when we are concerned about disease,” he said.
However, there have been dissenting views on the issue, some with dire health consequences for Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, some 225 million.
In 2018, Indonesia’s Ulema Council, the Muslim clerical body that issues certifications that a product is halal or allowed by Islamic law, decreed that measles and rubella vaccines were “haram” or illegal due to gelatin. Religious and community leaders began urging parents not to allow their children to be vaccinated.
“Subsequently, measles cases increased, giving Indonesia the third highest rate of measles in the world,” said Rachel Howard, director of the healthcare market research group Research Partnership.
Subsequently, the Muslim clerical body issued a decree that said the vaccine was allowed, but cultural taboos still led to continued low vaccination rates, Howard said.
“Our studies have found that some Muslims in Indonesia are uncomfortable accepting vaccines containing these ingredients,” even when the Muslim authority issues guidelines that they say they are allowed, he said.
Governments have taken steps to address the problem. In Malaysia, where the halal status of vaccines has been identified as the biggest problem among Muslim parents, stricter laws have been enacted so that parents must vaccinate their children or face fines and jail time. In Pakistan, where reliance on vaccines has declined for religious and political reasons, parents have been jailed for refusing to vaccinate their children against polio.
But with doubts about vaccines mounting and misinformation spreading around the world, including in religious communities, Rashid said community involvement is “absolutely necessary.”
“It could be disastrous” if there is not a strong community commitment from governments and health workers, he said.
In Indonesia, the government has already said that it will include the Muslim administrative body in the process of obtaining and certifying the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Public communication on halal status, price, quality and distribution must be well prepared,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in October.
While in China in the fall, Indonesian clergymen inspected China’s Sinovac Biotech facility, and clinical trials are also underway in Indonesia with some 1,620 volunteers 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, as well as Chinese companies Sinopharm and CanSino Biologics, all of which have COVID-19 vaccines in late-stage clinical trials and deals that sell millions of doses around the world, did not respond to Associated Press requests for information on ingredients.
In China, none of the COVID-19 vaccines have received final market approval, but more than 1 million healthcare workers and others who have been deemed at high risk of infection have received vaccines with permission for emergency use. The companies have yet to reveal how effective the vaccines are or their potential side effects.
Pakistan is in late stage clinical trials of the CanSino Biologics vaccine. Bangladesh previously had an agreement with Sinovac Biotech to conduct clinical trials in the country, but the trials have been delayed due to a funding dispute. Both countries have some of the largest Muslim populations in the world.
While health workers on the ground in Indonesia are still heavily involved in efforts to contain the virus as numbers continue to climb, Waqar said the government’s efforts to reassure Indonesians will be key to a campaign of successful immunization, as COVID-19 vaccines are approved for use.
But, he said, the companies that produce the vaccines must also be part of that community outreach.
“The more transparent they are, the more open and honest about their product, the more likely there are communities that have confidence in the product and can have informed discussions about what they want to do,” he said.
“Because, ultimately, it is the choice of individuals.”
