Malaysian Pharmaceutical Association suggests issue halal cert for COVID-19 vaccines

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has been urged to introduce halal certification for COVID-19 vaccine to avoid quarters from doubting its halal status and use it as an excuse to refuse the vaccination.

President of the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Association Amrahi Buang said the halal issue of vaccines should not be disputed, as currently, most of the COVID-19 vaccines are animal origin free, with some of them being certified halal by some countries.

"As such, we can ascertain the vaccine is halal, the next step is to introduce the halal certification ... if we do that, it is better, and this can be done by Pharmaniaga or Duopharma which are responsible for obtaining and supplying the COVID-19 vaccine doses for the country, " he said in the programme “Koresponden”, which was broadcast live on Bernama TV today.

He said the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, sold under the brand name Comirnaty, for example, is developed using a new technology, known as the messenger ribonucleic acid' (mRNA), and is animal origin free.

As for the COVID-19 vaccine produced by a Chinese pharmaceutical company, Sinovac, he said, it had been certified halal by the Indonesian Ulama Council, with authorities from the republic having gone to China to see for themselves the contents of the vaccine.

He said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, had recently, informed that the Special Muzakarah Committee of the National Council for the National Council for the Islamic Religious Affairs, which convened its meeting last Dec 3, had agreed that the use of the COVID-19 vaccine is compulsory (wajib) for groups that have been identified by the government and permissible (harus) for others.

Amrahi said it is illogical to say that the COVID-19 vaccine that will be used in the country is not safe as the safety aspects of taking the COVID-19 vaccination have always been given priority by the government.

"Any vaccine that is brought into the Malaysian market, it must be registered and approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) ... whereby, in the registration process, three things have to be complied with, namely quality, safety and effectiveness.

"Like any medicines, including vaccines, when it enters the body, the acceptance and response of every individual is different ... that is why, monitoring of the side effects is necessary and it should be reported to the NPRA if there are adverse effects of the vaccine,” he added.

-- BERNAMA