The much-anticipated Covid-19 vaccine need not be halal to be administered in Malaysia, said the Health Ministry's director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah, allaying concerns among local Muslims about the shots containing substances forbidden by Islam.
"If they can get the halal certification, that would be better, but we do not register medicine based on halal status or not. We do register non-halal medicine too," he told The Straits Times yesterday.
Concerns over whether the Covid-19 vaccine is permissible for use by Muslims have surfaced as Malaysia signs deals with manufacturers to procure shipments.
The Special Muzakarah Committee of the National Council for Malaysian Islamic Affairs met last Thursday to discuss whether the vaccine can be administered to Muslims.
Religious Affairs Minister Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri later said the decision would be announced after it has been presented to the King - Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, who oversees religious matters - for his consent.
Malaysian pharmaceutical company Pharmaniaga has said it is planning to build the world's first halal vaccine facility by 2022.
Last month, Malaysia inked a deal with Pfizer to supply 12.8 million doses of the vaccine for 20 per cent of the population, and a pact with the Covax Facility to cover another 10 per cent.
The country is also set to obtain the vaccine from China, which has raised questions among Muslims over its halal status.
"Even if there is an ingredient which is not permissible, the chemical transformation process will make it clean and halal," said Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin in a Facebook post after attending last week's Muzakarah Committee meeting.
Malaysia recorded 959 new daily cases and five deaths yesterday.
This brought the tally of confirmed cases to 76,265 while fatalities totalled 393.
Meanwhile, the authorities in Indonesia have completed a study on the halal status of a potential vaccine being developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac.
Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said on Monday that the Indonesian Ulema would issue a fatwa - or Islamic ruling - soon, antaranews.com reported.
Mr Muhadjir, who is a leading figure in the country's second-largest Islamic organisation Muhammadiyah, called the pandemic a life-threatening health crisis.
So drugs or vaccines without halal certification can be used to avoid deaths when halal vaccines or drugs have yet to be found.
He explained that under Islamic regulations, Covid-19 vaccines fall into the emergency category, meaning that all non-halal vaccines can be used in a crisis to manage an emergency situation.
Vice-President and senior Muslim cleric Ma'ruf Amin offered a similar statement in October, saying that the vaccine being prepared by the government did not have to be halal.
Vice-presidential spokesman Masduki Baidowi said Mr Ma'ruf's statement came during a meeting with Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan to discuss the progress of the vaccine being developed by Sinovac in partnership with state-owned pharmaceutical firm PT Bio Farma.
"The Vice-President explained an important thing: If the vaccine is halal, then that's good, there's no problem. But if it is not halal, that's also not a problem," Mr Masduki said in a statement on Oct 2.
"Because this is an emergency situation, it's okay to use (a non-halal vaccine)."
Covid-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 6,058 within one day to 592,900 yesterday, with 171 new fatalities bringing the death toll to 18,171.
