Are COVID-19 Vaccines Halal?

Breaking News – The UAE Fatwa Council has issued a fatwa allowing coronavirus vaccines to be used. (see below)

It is true that some Muslim clerics are concerned about whether or not COVID-19 vaccines are halal.

It is also true that there are no ingredients in any of the recently approved COVID-19 vaccines that should keep them from receiving halal certification.

Are COVID-19 Vaccines Halal?

Which ingredient might be an issue?

Some other vaccines use gelatin as a stabilizer. And the gelatin in those vaccines typically comes from pigs.

Again, the recently approved Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines do not contain gelatin.

“Transformation which means the conversion of a substance into another substance, different in characteristics, changes substances that are judicially impure or are found in an impure environment, into pure substances, and changes substances that are prohibited into lawful and permissible substances.”

The Judicially Prohibited and Impure Substances in Foodstuff and Drugs

And even if some others did, many Islamic legal scholars would say that it still isn’t an issue, as “The gelatin formed as a result of the transformation of the bones, skin and tendons of a judicially impure animal is pure…”

“He went on to say that vaccine to be given to the public must obtain halal certificate from the authorized institution, in this case is MUI. “However, if the vaccines are not halal but there is no other solution than giving the vaccine, then in emergency situation, it can be given with the approval of the MUI,” he added.

Gov’t Involves MUI to Ensure Halal COVID-19 Vaccine

Most importantly, know that for many Muslims, considering how many people are suffering and dying from COVID-19, even non-halal vaccines would be considered permissible during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The UAE Fatwa Council, under the chairmanship of Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, has issued a ‘fatwa’ (Islamic ruling) allowing the coronavirus vaccines to be used in compliance with Islamic Sharia’s objectives on the protection of the human body and other relevant Islamic rulings.”

UAE Fatwa Council says it’s permissible to use Corona vaccines; calls for cooperation with governments to ensure success of vaccination campaigns

And that position has been reinforced with a fatwa from the UAE Fatwa Council.

More on Halal Vaccines

• Did an Islamic Council in Indonesia Issue a Fatwa Against the Measles Vaccine?
• Religious Exemptions to Vaccination
• What Does the Torah Say About Vaccines?
• Who Are the Religious Leaders Who Are Against Vaccines?
• The Moral Responsibility of the Anti-Vaccine Movement
• Have Thousands Been Negatively Affected After Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine?
• Look Who’s Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine
• COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Monitoring Systems
• Fainting After Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine
• The Truth About COVID-19 Vaccines
• CDC – What Clinicians Need to Know About the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines
• UAE Fatwa Council says it’s permissible to use Corona vaccines; calls for cooperation with governments to ensure success of vaccination campaigns
• The Infodemic: Pfizer Vaccine Is Halal
• Coronavirus vaccine with ‘non-halal’ ingredients permissible for Muslims: UAE Council
• Gov’t Involves MUI to Ensure Halal COVID-19 Vaccine
• Fatwa Majelis Ulama Indonesia
• Vaccination In The Context Of Al-Maqasid Al-Shari`Ah (Objectives Of Divine Law) And Islamic Medical Jurisprudence
• Religious Leaders Approval of Use of Vaccines Containing Porcine Gelatin
• Islamic Advisory Group Supports Final Push for Polio Eradication
• The Islamic Advisory Group for Polio Eradication (IAG)
• Vaccines and gelatine: PHE response
• Vaccines and porcine gelatine
• Vaccine Ingredients – Gelatin
• Indonesia’s Islamic council issues fatwa on measles vaccine
• Fatwa issued against measles vaccine in Muslim-majority Indonesia
• Gowa Immediately Resumes Measles and Rubella Immunizations
• Indonesian Pediatrician Association