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SURABAYA, Indonesia (Reuters) - The rollout of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine has started in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim majority nation, despite concern and some confusion over whether the Anglo-Swedish product is halal, or permissible under Islam.
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The country has started distributing the vaccine in six provinces, a week after the Indonesia Ulema Council, the main Muslim group that issues halal certifications, last week said it contained trypsin sourced from the pancreas of a pig.
AstraZeneca has said the vaccine contains no pork-derived ingredients.
The East Java chapter of the Ulema council on Monday said the vaccine was halal when it was administered to some of its members. It did not say why it had been deemed halal.