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AstraZeneca clarifies its vaccine has no pork-derived ingredients

WION Web Team
Jakarta, IndonesiaUpdated: Mar 21, 2021, 12:10 PM IST
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AstraZeneca COVID vaccine Photograph:(AFP)

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Indonesia’s highest Muslim clerical council, the Indonesia Ulema Council, said on its website Friday that the vaccine is "haram" because the manufacturing process uses "trypsin from the pork pancreas."

AstraZeneca has countered an assertion doing the rounds in Indonesia, clarifying its COVID-19 vaccine does not contain any pork-derived ingredients.

Indonesia’s highest Muslim clerical council, the Indonesia Ulema Council, said on its website Friday that the vaccine is "haram" because the manufacturing process uses "trypsin from the pork pancreas."

Still, the council approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for use given the pandemic emergency.

To this end, AstraZeneca Indonesia spokesman Rizman Abudaeri said in a statement: "At all stages of the production process, this virus vector vaccine does not use nor come in contact with pork-derived products or other animal products."

Indonesia is grappling with one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Asia – with 1,455,788 cases and 39,447 deaths as of Saturday. Authorities in the country on Friday approved the use of the vaccine after reviewing reports that it had caused blood clots among some recipients in Europe.