Indonesia's highest Muslim body expects halal certificate for experimental COVID vaccine

The highest Muslim body in Indonesia is expected to issue 'halal' certification for the experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech. According to the Associated Press, the Indonesian Ulema Council Halal Product Guarantee Agency and Institute for the Assessment of Food, Drugs and Cosmetics have completed a study and a fatwa and halal certificate is expected soon. The Human Development and Culture Minister of Indonesia, Muhadjir Effendy, informed that the certification would be a significant step in immunisation efforts in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country. 

Effendy said, “A study by the Indonesian Ulema Council Halal Product Guarantee Agency and Institute for the Assessment of Food, Drugs and Cosmetics has been completed and has been submitted to the council for the making of a fatwa and halal certification”. 

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Previously, several Indonesians had raised concerns over whether the vaccines for COVID-19 were ‘Halal’. President Joao Widodo had also warned that the country would not rush into rolling out vaccines without “detailed and careful preparations”. Now, as over one million doses of the experiment COVID vaccine developed by Chinese-based firm Sinovac arrived in Indonesia on Sunday evening, the officials are expected to issue halal certification. The government, however, does not have the exact schedule for distributing the doses. 

Health minister Terawan Agus Putranto said that the experimental vaccine needs to successfully complete phase III clinical trials before it can be distributed in Indonesia. Putranto said, “The government will provide a vaccine that is proven safe and passes clinical trials under World Health Organization recommendations”. 

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Indonesia expected to vaccinate 100 million in 2021

The Indonesian government has announced that it plans to use vaccines from several different producers in its efforts to vaccinate the world’s fourth most populated country. As of now, Sinovac candidate vaccine is the only one to arrive in the country. The Health Ministry on Monday announced nearly 5,745 new coronavirus cases, bringing the confirmed total to over 581,550, including 17,867 deaths, which is the highest in Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, earlier, Indonesia has reportedly vowed to vaccinate over 100 million people in 2021 of COVID-19 but Widodo assured in October that scale of inoculation in an archipelagic country of at least 270 million would be challenging and thus adhered to a more cautious approach. 

(With inputs from AP)

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