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JAKARTA: Indonesia’s highest Muslim clerical body is expected to issue a halal certification for the COVID-19 experimental vaccine developed by China-based Sinovac Biotech, officials said on Monday (December 7).
Certification would be an important step in immunization efforts in the world’s most populous Muslim country, if the vaccine is approved for use.
“A study by the Indonesian Ulema Council Halal Products Assurance Body and the Institute for Food, Drug and Cosmetic Evaluation Institute completed a study and submitted to the council for the development of a fatwa and halal certification,” said the Minister of Culture and Human Development Muhadjir Effendy said at a press conference.
More than 1 million doses of the experimental COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac arrived in Indonesia on Sunday night. The government does not have an exact timetable for distributing the doses.
READ: Sinovac Raises US $ 515 Million Funds to Boost COVID-19 Vaccine Production
Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto said Monday that the experimental vaccine must successfully complete phase 3 clinical trials before it can be distributed in Indonesia.
“The government will provide a vaccine that has been shown to be safe and passes clinical trials according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization,” Putranto said.
Hermawan Saputra from the Indonesian Association of Public Health Experts said the 1.2 million doses alone are sufficient for a starting group of 600,000 people, as each person must receive two doses.
“It doesn’t really have a significant meaning. The government must guarantee that there will be enough to distribute to the entire country, ”Saputra said.
Workers unload a container containing experimental coronavirus vaccines made by the Chinese company Sinovac from the cargo bay of a Garuda Indonesia aircraft at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia, on December 6, 2020 (Presidential Palace from Indonesia via AP).
Saputra said that if the experimental vaccine passes the third phase of clinical trials, immunization programs are expected to begin in the middle of next year.
The government has announced that it plans to use vaccines from several different producers in its effort to vaccinate the fourth most populous country in the world. So far, the Sinovac vaccine candidate is the only one reaching the country.
On Monday, the Ministry of Health announced 5,754 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the confirmed total to 581,550, including 17,867 deaths, the highest in Southeast Asia.
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