Jakarta (ANTARA) - The government directs the industry to utilize halal platform in the COVID-19 vaccine creation process to address the people's hesitancy and expedite vaccination, Health Ministry's Pharmacy and Health Device Security Director Roy Himawan stated.

This is undertaken based on the development of vaccine production technology, he noted during the COVID-19 Vaccination Book Dissection online discussion, Monday.

According to Himawan, all COVID-19 vaccines developed in Indonesia currently already comply with the halal rules, so the people do not need to hesitate in undergoing vaccination.

"In future, (it is expected that) this halal rule already becomes a paradigm from the research phase, so it would not be a problem when entering the formulation stage and empirical test," he noted.

Halal vaccine has always been the government's consideration since vaccination began in 2021. In providing the vaccine, the government strives to consider which vaccines meet the halal category, Himawan noted.

"If they have not (meet the halal category), then they would enter emergency usage," he remarked.

Since that period, the MUI (Indonesian Ulema Council) allowed the government to use vaccine with non-halal platform for COVID-19 vaccination since the benefits outweigh the risks, he remarked.

"We believe that the aspect of people's safety becomes the most important feature during that period, so we consider this matter. However, in future, we encourage the vaccine industry to prioritize the halal platform," he added.

During the event, Immunization Management Acting Director at the Ministry Prima Yosephine also affirmed that the government never ceases to strive to provide halal vaccines to the people.

The government has also already issued a policy to handle the provision of halal vaccine, she remarked.

"In future, we expect that our Merah Putih (MP) Vaccine can already receive halal certificate, so that we can further ensure the provision of halal vaccines," she stated.

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Translator: Suci Nurhaliza, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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