TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - In the midst of the polemic of the halal and haram status of AstraZeneca vaccines, Jakarta Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria ensured the city will abide by the policies of the central government.

“We will accept any vaccine prepared by the central government and use it as best as we can for the people of Jakarta,” he said at the City Hall on Monday night, March 22, 2021.

Riza acknowledged there are concerns among the public but he is sure that the central government will not recklessly determine the type of vaccine and its source through long research and careful observation. “And whatever is decided, I believe that is the best we have to do together.”

The government, he underlined, surely wants its citizens to be safe, secure, healthy. All related institutions must have checked and discussed it with experts to finally decide what is the best. “Our only job is to carry out vaccinations in the Jakarta area.”

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) approves the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine given the pandemic and limited availability of halal vaccines albeit the manufacturing process uses trypsin from pork.

However, AstraZeneca Indonesia via a written statement on Sunday, March 21, denied the MUI’s statement. “For AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, this virus vector vaccine does not contain animal-derived products.”

This has also been confirmed by the United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency that none of the AstraZeneca vaccine production stages use pork-derived products.

Read: Deputy Minister Calls for Stop Over AstraZeneca Halal Status Polemic

ANTARA