Aiming for halal ruling before mass vaccination

All in: Indonesian football supporters with a placard declaring they are game to get vaccinated in Solo, Central Java province, Indonesia. — Reuters

THE country’s highest Muslim clerical council aims to issue a ruling on whether a Covid-19 vaccine is halal, or permissible under Islam, before the country is due to start a mass inoculation programme using a Chinese vaccine next week.

The world’s largest Muslim-majority country plans to launch vaccinations on Jan 13 after obtaining three million doses from China’s Sinovac Biotech.