TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Head of the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) Penny K. Lukito has confirmed that all three domestic manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines have obtained halal certificates from the concerned authority.

"All vaccines are halal. It has been certified, so all domestically (produced) COVID-19 vaccines are halal," Lukito said on Wednesday.

The vaccine halal certifications have been issued by the Assessment Institute for Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics of the Indonesian Ulema Council (LPPOM MUI) after an audit of the halal aspects.

The three COVID-19 vaccines produced by domestic manufacturers are IndoVac produced by state-owned pharmaceutical firm PT Bio Farma with Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), InaVac produced by PT Biotis Pharmaceutical Indonesia in collaboration with Airlangga University, and the mRNA vaccine produced by PT Etana, which has not been trademarked yet.

IndoVac is based on a recombinant protein platform, which can be adapted to new variants of the COVID-19 virus, while InaVac uses an inactivated virus platform.

PT Etana is the first COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer in Indonesia to hold a halal certificate for the development of its mRNA biotechnological product, Lukito informed.

The mRNA vaccine is considered the latest type of vaccine developed to tackle the transmission of COVID-19 whose content is different from other vaccines.

Conventional vaccines usually contain an inactivated virus, but mRNA vaccines are developed through the use of computerized technology in the DNA sequencing process.

Moderna and Pfizer have also developed COVID-19 vaccines that use the mRNA platform.

"The vaccine produced by PT Etana is an mRNA vaccine that can be stored at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius. So, I think this is a good technology that already exists in Indonesia," Lukito said.

ANTARA

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