Even Though The Supreme Court Has Issued A Decision Regarding Halal Vaccines, The Task Force Says That All Vaccines Can Be Used Because Of An Emergency

Illustration (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, explained the decision of the Supreme Court (MA) regarding the government's obligation to use halal vaccines for Muslims.

Wiku explained that the Supreme Court's decision Number 31P/HUM/2022 was the legal umbrella for the provision of halal vaccines in the country.

"In principle, this Supreme Court decision was issued to serve as a legal umbrella to ensure the provision of halal vaccines in the national vaccination program," said Wiku in a statement quoted on Thursday, April 28.

Thus, Wiku views that so far all vaccines in Indonesia can be used for emergency reasons, based on the Fatwa of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI).

Then, after the Supreme Court's decision, Wiku ensured that the government was trying to prioritize the use of halal vaccines for Muslims. This was followed up by the determination of the Sinovac vaccine as a third or booster dose of vaccine.

"As the capacity of halal vaccines increases, such as Sinovac and other vaccines, the use of COVID-19 vaccines for Muslims will be completely replaced with vaccines that have received a halal fatwa," said Wiku.

It is known, the Supreme Court's decision regarding the provision of halal vaccines must be fulfilled by the government after the Indonesian Muslim Consumer Foundation (YKMI) as the applicant won at the Supreme Court level against President Jokowi Widodo.

This Supreme Court verdict is the result of a judicial review conducted by YKMI on Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 99 of 2020 concerning Vaccine Procurement.

In a copy of its decision, the Supreme Court stated that the government cannot immediately impose its will on Indonesian citizens to be vaccinated for any reason and without conditions.

"That the government in carrying out the COVID-19 vaccination program in the territory of the Republic of Indonesia (NRI), cannot immediately impose its will on citizens to be vaccinated for any reason and without conditions, except for protection and guarantees for the halal type of COVID-19 vaccine. 19 that have been set, especially against Muslims," reads the Supreme Court's decision.

A number of DPR members also urged the Ministry of Health to immediately follow up on the Supreme Court's decision. The chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, asked the government to immediately mitigate and take steps to promote the provision of halal vaccines. He also reminded that the Supreme Court's decision would not harm the community. Meanwhile, Member of Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Saleh Partaonan Daulay, assessed that the decision was very urgent to be executed in the midst of the government's incessant vaccination. According to him, the government inevitably has to provide halal vaccines in every vaccination implementation throughout Indonesia.

Furthermore, Wiku also emphasized that the message stating that the COVID-19 pandemic is over and the Peduli Protect application violates human rights is a hoax.

“It is not true that the government has declared the COVID-19 pandemic over. The Indonesian government will continue to monitor cases of COVID-19 in the future and this decision is accompanied by expert considerations in the field," he said.

In addition, Wiku also emphasized that the information that the Peduli Protect application violated human rights related to the misuse of personal data was not true.

"Personal data input is carried out with the prior consent of the information owner and this data has been stored and well maintained at the National Data Center of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Communication and Information Technology) and supervised by the BSSN (State Cyber and Crypto Agency)," he concluded.