As we wrote this, there are already two pharmaceuticals company who step forward and claim that their vaccine is at the final stage, safe and ready for distribution.
However, many Malaysian are still wondering a lot of questions once our foreign minister signed an MOU with China last month, to prioritized Malaysia for their vaccine once it is ready. Malaysian are mostly concern since COVID-19 was claimed to be originally started in Wuhan, China.
For a Muslim-majority country like Malaysia, the origin of the vaccine is not so much of an issue compared to the ingredient / the content of the vaccine. There is already anti-vaccination movement in Malaysia, with increased members identified to tripled since 2013. Their main reason to oppose vaccination for their children is due to the halal status of the vaccine. They believe that the vaccines are contaminated with porcine DNA.
Come COVID-19 pandemic, where the number of death and infections are escalating daily, every world leader are desperate to race for a vaccine. For Malaysia, there are requests that the vaccine should be effective AND halal. However, this request is quickly opposed by a public-health watch because of the obsession in determining the halal shariah-compliant status of everything will only threaten the safety and well-being of the community as a whole.
Personally, I have to agree with the public-health watcher, as in my opinion, this pandemic has more effect than only health. It also attacks the economy of the country as we have started to see a lot of people turned jobless and businesses closed due to restricted movement in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. If we are to wait for a halal vaccine, I’m afraid the situation will get worse.
Moreover, with reference to the previous post and fatwa, I believe that if the situation is pressing, while we still have no choice, it is best to safe life than further damaged even if we have to take the haram source. This what we call “Darurah” or necessity. Darurah applies in a dire situation in which there are no lawful means to prevent harm that may be inflicted upon human life. InsyaAllah, once better situation permit, definitely Malaysian scientist will come out with a proper, effective and halal vaccine for mankind.
*This article is the sole opinion of the writer and does not represent the opinion of AnsarComp Malaysia as a whole. She is currently the Business Development Senior Executive and she is producing daily content for the company.
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7227723/
- http://protomag.com/articles/desperate-race-halal-vaccines
- https://says.com/my/news/china-agrees-to-prioritise-malaysia-as-a-recipient-of-their-covid-19-vaccines
- https://says.com/my/news/here-are-5-things-to-know-about-pfizer-s-covid-19-vaccine?_ga=2.93383451.762660846.1605045419-15519429.1599730913
- https://codeblue.galencentre.org/2020/09/27/we-do-not-need-to-ensure-that-vaccines-are-halal/