Indonesia mulls giving vaccine jab at night in fasting month
JAKARTA: The Indonesian Health Ministry will consider requests for Covid-19 vaccination activities to be conducted at night during the fasting month of Ramadan, due to start mid-April.
“Are we ready (for vaccination at night)? We will discuss and finalise it further,” the ministry’s spokesperson for vaccination, Siti Nadia Tarmizi was quoted by Antara News agency on Wednesday.
She said this during a webinar on “Roadmap to Herd Immunity” held online by Forum Alenia.
Before this the fatwa or legal opinion of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Number 13 of 2021 on vaccination for Covid-19 during fasting, stipulated that the intramuscular injection mechanism deployed for vaccination does not invalidate a person’s fast, as long as it does not cause harm.
In reference to this provision, the health ministry had prepared all vaccination mechanisms in the day during Ramadan.
The MUI Fatwa Commission earlier recommended that the government administer the vaccine shots at night to cater to Muslim vaccine recipients who may have weak physical condition
after undergoing fasting during the day.
Tarmizi felt the suggestion could be an alternative recommendation when the daytime process cannot be conducted.
Meanwhile, Vice-President Ma’ruf Amin has vouched for the safety of Covid-19 vaccination for those on a fast and deemed it unnecessary to forego fasting, as long as the vaccine recipients were in good physical condition.
“The MUI fatwa has been issued.
“Vaccination in the month of Ramadan does not invalidate fasting,” Ma’ruf said after receiving the second vaccination jab on Wednesday.
Vaccines do not enter the human body through the openings of the ears, nostrils and mouth, so it did not invalidate the fasting of Muslims, said Ma’aruf who is also the MUI Advisory Council chairman.
“That is because (the vaccine) does not enter through the openings in the body.
“What invalidates fasting is what enters through the nostrils, mouth, and ears.
“Since this vaccine is not injected through those holes, it does not invalidate fasting.”