Vaccine Polemic, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin: Should Or Not, Not Due Halal Or Haram

JAKARTA - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin emphasized that the provisions for the COVID-19 vaccine that can be injected into the public do not lie in the problem of its halalness, but rather its ability.

"If the issue is halal or haram, I think what is now being questioned should be allowed or not, halal or haram", said Vice President Ma'ruf Amin while reviewing the COVID-19 vaccination in Lampung, as reported by Antara, Monday, March 22.

Even though a COVID-19 vaccine contains haram elements, the Vice President continued, this can be ruled out as long as the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) states that the vaccine can be given to the public.

"Because it is halal or haram, MUI says it is permissible. Moreover, if it is indeed halal, so it is more permissible. So that is not a problem in my opinion", he said.

Meanwhile, the polemic about the pig content in the COVID-19 vaccine made by AstraZeneca, the Vice President said that was also not a problem as long as the vaccine was allowed to be given to the public.

"Because he (AstraZeneca vaccine), although not halal, is allowed, especially if there is an explanation that it does not contain pork, it means that it may be more permissible. So that it does not become a problem, about its permissibility", he explained.

Previously, the Chairperson of the MUI for Fatwa, Asrorun Niam, said that AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine was considered haram because in the production process it used pork trypsin.

Even though it contains haram elements, Asrorun said the AstraZeneca vaccine could be used for several reasons.

The first reason is that the COVID-19 pandemic is an emergency so that the AstraZeneca vaccine can be used. Second, there is expert information about the risk of danger if the COVID-19 vaccination is not carried out immediately.

Third, the availability of a halal and holy COVID-19 vaccine is not sufficient to meet the needs of a population of 182 million people, to create community immunity.

Fourth, there is a guarantee of the safety of using the AstraZeneca vaccine. Fifth, the Government does not have the flexibility to choose the type of COVID-19 vaccine.