MARITES...

tion due to disinformation that the COVID-19 vaccines are not halal (permissible) and laced with pork products, which are haram or forbidden in Islam.

“Scientifically, there’s no truth to those claims. They have been proven to be false,” Karim stressed.

To address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, several towns in this province sought the help of Muslim religious leaders (MRL) to encourage people to get vaccinated.

Tapping MRLs like imam and ustadz was an effective way to address false information and rumors, Karim said, adding MRLs “are respected in their communities. Residents listen and follow what they have to say.”

To prove that the available COVID-19 vaccines are halal, Karim said that during community orientation or house-to-house visits, local health workers would play a video showing Bangsamoro Grand Mufti Abulhuraira Udasan endorsing the government’s vaccination drive.

Udasan heads the Islamic advisory council or the Darul-Ifta in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“The vaccine for healing and preventive measure, in general, is lawful (halal),” the Mufti had said.

Norolhak Daud, an ustadz from Barangay Barurao in Sultan sa Barongis town, also spread the guidance of the Darul-Ifta to the communities that he served to help contain COVID-19.

Daud, who is among the MRLs tapped to fight COVID-19 in Maguindanao, also cites the preaching of the Holy Quran to encourage residents to get protection from the deadly disease.

“Kung meron tayo kalaban katulad ng virus, kung di pa dumating ang kalaban, dapat maghanda,” said Daud, a madrasah teacher.

Daud acknowledged that he was initially hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine because of fake news he read on social media and the rumors spread by the ‘Marites’ in their neighborhood.

But he joined a COVID-19 orientation for MRLs and learning from health workers that many people had been vaccinated, Daud followed suit.

“The COVID-19 vaccine does not kill. I am still alive after getting it. You must also get the vaccine to protect you,” he encouraged his fellow Maguindanaons.

Daud admitted others do not heed his advice and to avoid trouble, he would leave them alone.

Karim praised the work of the MRLs, even if others still do not heed their appeal to get the vaccine.

“There’s a marked increase in the number of people in our municipality who trooped to our COVID-19 vaccination sites after we engaged the local religious leaders in our campaign,” she said.

Karim attributed the over 50 percent COVID-19 vaccination achievement rate of the town partly due to the involvement of the MRLs in fighting the deadly disease.

If the MRLs have not been engaged, the figure would have been much lower, she added.

Of the 19,663 target population for COVID-19 vaccination in Datu Hoffer, 10,626 individuals were fully vaccinated, a 54 percent coverage achievement, while 2,185 were partially vaccinated as of January 9, data from the Integrated Provincial Health Office showed.

Datu Hoffer RHU workers vowed to continue encouraging the 6,852 unvaccinated constituents, or around 35 percent of their target, to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.