(Change AstraZeneca Indonesia official as director of spokesperson)
JAKARTA (Reuters) – AstraZeneca on Sunday said its COVID-19 vaccine did not contain any pork-derived ingredients, which contradicted a claim in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, that the drug violated Islamic law.
Indonesia’s highest Muslim ecclesiastical council, the Indonesian Ulema council, said on its website on Friday that the vaccine is ‘haram’ because the manufacturing process uses ‘trypsin from the pork pancreas’.
Nevertheless, the council approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for use, given the emergency in pandemic.
But AstraZeneca Indonesia director Rizman Abudaeri said in a statement: “At all stages of the production process, this virus vector vaccine is not used or brought into contact with pork products or other animal products.”
The council and the country’s food and drug agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Indonesian authorities on Friday approved the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine after examining reports that it had caused blood clots among some recipients in Europe.
Indonesia is battling one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Asia – with 1,455,788 cases and 39,447 deaths as of Saturday.
(Story wants to change the title of official of AstraZeneca Indonesia as director of spokesperson)
Reporting by Nilufar Rizki; Written by Fathin Ungku; Edited by William Mallard