The highest Islamic authority in the United Arab Emirates, the UAE Fatwa Council, has ruled that even though they contain pork gelatin, coronavirus vaccines are appropriate for Muslims.
The ruling follows an increasing alarm that the use of pork gelatin, a common vaccine ingredient, can impede vaccination among Muslims who consider ‘haram,’ or prohibited under Islamic law, consumption of pork products.
If there are no choices, Council Chairman Sheikh Abdallah bin Bayyah said that, because of the greater need to “protect the human body,” coronavirus vaccines will not be subject to Islam’s prohibitions on pork.
In this case, the Council added that pork gelatin is considered a medicinal product, not a food product, with many vaccines already proven to be effective against a highly infectious virus that “poses a risk to society as a whole.”
