The telegraph
The UAE grants an exemption for non-halal Pfizer vaccines
The UAE’s highest Islamic authority, the UAE Fatwa Council, has ruled that coronavirus vaccines are allowed for Muslims, even if they contain pig gelatin. The ruling follows growing concerns that the use of pork gelatin, a common vaccine ingredient, could impede the vaccination of Muslims who consider the consumption of pork products to be “haram” or prohibited under Islamic law. If there are no alternatives, the council chairman Sheikh Abdallah bin Bayyah said the coronavirus vaccines would not be subject to the restrictions of Islam on pork due to the greater need to “protect the human body”. The council added that in this case the pork gelatin is considered a medicine rather than a food. Several vaccines have already been shown to be effective against a highly contagious virus that “poses a risk to society as a whole. Dubai launched its vaccination program against Covid-19 on Wednesday, the government said that a senior and a nurse will be among the first who were vaccinated with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. The United Arab Emirates – made up of seven emirates including the capital Abu Dhabi and Dubai – approved the emergency registration of the vaccine on Tuesday, the same day that the first batch was received from abroad arrived, reported the official news agency WAM. Dubai “starts the Covid-19 vaccination campaign ‘Pfizer-BioNTech'”, tweeted the Dubai Media Office, along with pictures of men and women who received the sting. The first phase of the rollout is about to begin Citizens and residents over the age of 60, adults with chronic illnesses, people with special needs and on the front lines and the like nd other key forces The elderly man and elderly nurse, a paramedic, a police officer and a driver were among the first to receive the sting in Dubai. The vaccination is “free” for all citizens and residents. The first batch arrived on an Emirates cargo flight from Brussels on Tuesday, WAM said. “We were honored to have these vaccines transported free of charge on our flight,” said the airline’s chairman and chief executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum in a statement. The Dubai Media Office announced that vaccinations will be available at six health authority facilities. Earlier this month, the United Arab Emirates had already approved the vaccine developed by the Chinese drug giant Sinopharm, which it claims was 86 percent effective. Manufactured by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, the vaccine, which has been shown to be 95 percent effective in late-stage clinical studies, is given in two doses 21 days apart. The vaccine must be stored at -70 degrees Celsius, a temperature that is much lower than standard freezers and that has forced the company to develop special containers for transportation. Participation in the UAE vaccination campaign is still voluntary, but officials have encouraged the population to vaccinate. Two vaccines were tested in the United Arab Emirates in the third phase – the Sinopharm project and the Russian Sputnik-V, named after the satellite from the Soviet era. The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, said in November that he had received an experimental coronavirus vaccine and had joined other senior UAE officials to participate in the trials. The UAE has registered more than 197,000 cases of the novel coronavirus to date, including 645 deaths.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.