Samarinda Islamic Center Manager Refuses To Use Astrazeneca Vaccine

ILLUSTRATION/UNSPLASH

SAMARINDA - General Chairperson of the Islamic Center Management Agency (BPIC) of Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Awang Dharma Bakti, rejected the use of the COVID-19 vaccine from Astrazeneca, because the vaccine uses trypsin, which Awang said came from pigs.

"We plan to carry out mass vaccinations on Wednesday and Thursday, August 25 and 26, then September 1, 2, 8 and 9. But because the vaccine is Astrazeneca, so we refuse," said Awang Dharma Bakti in Samarinda, quoted from Antara, Wednesday. , August 25.

He rejected the vaccine because it was guided by the Fatwa of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Number 14 of 2021 concerning the Law on the Use of the Astrazeneca Vaccine which is haram.

According to him, the refusal was made because in the production process stage of Astrazeneca using trypsin derived from pigs, today he has sent an official letter to the Head of the Samarinda City Health Office regarding the refusal to use the Astrazeneca vaccine.

"The rejection letter that we submitted to the Samarinda Health Office today with the number 103/BPIC-SET/VIII/2021. We refused because it referred to the MUI Fatwa, so we temporarily canceled mass vaccinations at the Islamic Center," he said.

He stated that in initial talks with the Samarinda City Health Office, his party was promised that the vaccine to be injected was the Moderna type, but the latest information from the officers he received was Astrazeneca.

"We fully support the COVID-19 mass vaccination program implemented by the government to the people in Samarinda City, we only reject Astrazeneca in accordance with the MUI Fatwa," said Awang.

The Astrazeneca vaccine is a vaccine produced by the University of Oxford, England. While the enzyme used for Astrazeneca is pork trypsin which is a reagent that is widely used during the manufacture of biologic drugs.

Never Disputed about Pig Trypsin

A virologist or virologist and Lecturer at the School of Pharmacy, Bandung Institute of Technology, Aluicia Anita Artarini said the COVID-18 vaccine made by AstraZeneca does not contain animal trypsin (enzyme), but an enzyme that resembles a fungus trypsin.

Recently, the AstraZeneca vaccine has been widely discussed because it is said to contain pork trypsin. However, this is not true and is denied by Anita.

"AstraZeneca does not use animal trypsin in its production process and in the end, there is no trypsin," Anita said in a virtual chat quoted by Antara, Tuesday, March 30.

Anita said AstraZeneca uses the enzyme trypsin derived from mushrooms and made specifically for the COVID-19 vaccine. This is stated in the document AstraZeneca and the Oxford team who carried out clinical trials.

The trypsin is also not included in the vaccine formula, but is only used as a cutter for mammalian cells purchased by AstraZeneca from the Cell Bank supplier.

"It is an enzyme similar to trypsin activity and from mushrooms made in a recombinant way," said Anita.