You may refuse to receive COVID-19 vaccine but do not spread false news - Kedah Mufti

BALING: Kedah State Mufti, Datuk Sheikh Fadzil Awang stated that every individual has the right to make a decision, including not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

However, the individual should not make any statement and spread false news, especially regarding the legal use of the vaccine.

He explained that, based on the explanation from the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH), the National Council Muzakarah Committee for Islamic Religious Affairs as well as the muftis throughout the country have decided that the use of the COVID-19 vaccine is a must.

He stated that the concept of 'istihalah' in the law of fiqh can also be applied if there are any elements that cannot be identified in the production of the vaccine.

"We expect our friends who do not agree with the use of the COVID-19 vaccine, if they do not agree, it is up to them.

"But the decision that says that the use of this vaccine should be, made at the highest level discussed in the muzakarah of the National Council of Islamic Religious Affairs Malaysia and the level of muftis throughout Malaysia, we have agreed to say should, (I) be ready InsyaAllah," he said.

Sheikh Fadzil said this when met by the media after the handing over of smartphone donations to the children of the Kensiu Tribe community by the Kedah State Zakat Board (LZNK) in Kampung Lubok Legong, here on Sunday.

Meanwhile, he expressed his readiness to receive the vaccine but placed priority on the frontline staff as the first group to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had previously explained that the Muzakarah Committee of the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs had decided that the law on the use of the COVID-19 vaccine is a must and it is compulsory to be taken by those who have been selected by the government.

The Prime Minister said, determining the welfare of the community to protect human beings from being infected with dangerous diseases is not a foreign matter from the Islamic perspective.

On February 4, he explained that the government would start the National COVID-19 Immunization Program in three phases starting later this month, with the government targeting 80 per cent of the country's population or 26.5 million individuals receiving the vaccine to be given away for free.

The first phase is from February to April for about 500,000 frontline workers directly involved in fighting the epidemic, while the second phase is from April to August for high-risk groups aged 60 and above as well as vulnerable groups with morbidity problems such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure in addition to the disabled (OKU).

The third phase is for adults aged 18 and above from this May to February next year.

On January 8, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Khairy Jamaluddin announced that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was successfully registered by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Division (NPRA), thus giving conditional approval for the use of the vaccine in the country.