Ethical Debate

With Covid19 threat being real and very much present, many countries have started acquiring vaccines for their citizens. Various approaches are being implemented by Health Departments in different countries. Indonesia for example will vaccinate the public officers followed by their younger workforce: older people are lower in their priority list, while countries like US and UK started vaccinating the more at-risk/ vulnerable groups i.e. older age individuals.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-15/younger-people-get-vaccines-first-in-indonesia-s-unusual-rollout

Malaysia on the other hand is still debating who will be vaccinated first and our vaccines will reach us the earliest in February. Trust our politicians to be debating all these.

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2021/01/03/report-malaysia-to-begin-covid-19-vaccine-rollout-in-feb-one-million-to-rec/1936821

The ingredients of vaccines have also become a subject of interest: whether the vaccines consist of 'halal' ingredients. Some clerics have taken the stance of (life-saving) 'necessity' to allow use of vaccines which ingredients have not been certified halal. 

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/indonesias-mui-to-issue-fatwa-on-covid-19-vaccine-amid-concerns-over-its-halal-status

Indeed people are concerned. Indeed, the ingredients (of the vaccines) may or may not be halal (and incidentally I do wonder if under IP laws the pharmaceutical companies will release their ingredients for verification by Majlis Fatwa). Indeed, the injections are needed to shield us from further calamity by the pandemic. Which way do we go: stand on moral/ spiritual grounds and insist for the vaccines to be first certified as halal; or approach it using the utilitarian way and deliver these vaccines to many who are in dire need. So that we can survive.

I tend to agree with the 'necessity' argument. Say if the vaccine is not halal, so do we push it away and choose to survive the elements using our own antibody? That's one way. How about the vaccines that were administered since our birth- are those halal (in hindsight)? Must they be halal? Or what about lifesaving antibiotics, or any capsule or medicine for that matter- are we sure of their 'halal' ness?