Indonesia Uses Halal, Safe COVID-19 Vaccine

President Jokowi. (Photo by: Presidential Secretariat/Kris)

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has declared Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine to be used in Indonesia is halal, according to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

The vaccine, he added, has also been through clinical testing to ensure the safety and effectiveness.

“I would like to reiterate that COVID-19 vaccine to be used in Indonesia has been tested by various countries, is declared to be safe, and will receive (EUA) recommendation from the Indonesian Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), followed by the issuance of halal fatwa from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI),” he said.

The President went on to say that the vaccination will begin once Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) is issued by the BPOM to ensure the safety.

To date, Indonesia began distributing three million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to 34 regions. In the future, 426 million doses of vaccine will arrive in Indonesia including those from Sinovac, Novavax, AstraZeneca, BioNTech-Pfizer, and COVAX/GAVI.

“Hopefully, the vaccine will be enough to shot 182 million of Indonesian population in order to build herd immunity,” he said adding that the vaccination program which is projected to be completed in 15 months will prioritize 1.6 million of medical staff in the first batch of vaccination.

Also on that occasion, the President confirmed that the Government will carry on social security programs for those affected by the pandemic. The programs cover the Staple Food Card, the Aspiring Family Program (PKH), Social-cash Assistance, Pre-employment Card, Cash Transfer Assistance to Villages, electricity tariff discount, and incentives for business sector.

“Those are our efforts to protect the grassroots from social and economic impacts of the pandemic,” he stated. (BPMI/UN) (RAS/LW)