TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Golkar Party faction MP Nusron Wahid urged the government and state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma to boost diplomacy and endeavors to ascertain that China's Sinovac vaccine secures a WHO approval for emergency use against COVID-19.

Certainty is required for Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine use since it concerns the fate of Indonesia's would-be Hajj pilgrims, most of whom are receiving the Sinovac vaccination, Wahid remarked in a press release here on Tuesday.

Last month, Saudi authorities noted that only people immunized against COVID-19 were permitted to perform the year-round Umrah pilgrimage, starting from the holy month of Ramadan in April 2021.

According to media reports, Saudi Arabia had yet to take any decision on the Haj pilgrimage scheduled for next July, and the country recognizes the Pfizer-BioNTech, J&J, Moderna, and AstraZeneca vaccines for COVID-19.

The WHO has, so far, given emergency use approval to COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Sinopharm.

"Several countries have been informed of their quota allocation. However, until now, Indonesia has not received a quota allocation since the Sinovac vaccine used by Indonesia has not received certification from the WHO," Wahid remarked during a hearing with PT Bio Farma Holding Director Honesti Basyir at the parliament building recently.

According to the former chairman of GP Ansor, a youth wing of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), it is ironic that Muslims outside Indonesia can head for Hajj pilgrimage, while Indonesian Muslims cannot go since the choice of vaccine purchased by the government is not recognized or has not received certification from the WHO.

"This will be a serious problem, as those choosing the vaccine are not Indonesian Muslims, but the government and Bio Farma. It would be ironic and tragic as it is expensive and bought using the state funds, but it does not make it easier for Muslims to go on pilgrimage," he stated.

Hence, Wahid urged the government and Bio Farma to immediately seek the WHO certification for the Sinovac vaccine.

"If we do not obtain the WHO certification immediately and it consequently leads to Indonesia not getting the Hajj quota, it would become a tsunami of opinions and discrimination," he stated.

Conversely, if the WHO certification is issued soon, it can be used as a means of diplomacy, so that some Muslims will be able to embark on the pilgrimage akin to those in other countries, he stated.

Meanwhile, Basyir is sanguine that the Sinovac vaccine would receive the WHO approval in a week or two.

"We have tried our best, and we will push, so that the Sinovac vaccine can be accepted by the Government of the Saudi," he noted.

According to the result of research conducted by Brazil, the Sinovac vaccine called CoronaVac is 50.4-percent effective, or just above the 50-percent efficacy set under the WHO guidelines.

Read: Indonesia Asked to Negotiate with Saudi Arabia on Sinovac Vaccine

ANTARA