COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers were working on Halal certification, according to FDA
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Eric Domingo on Thursday said that COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers were working on securing Halal certification for their respective products.
Domingo made the remark in response to concerns raised by the Bangsamoro Region (BARMM) leaders that the COVID-19 vaccine should have Halal certification.
Based on a definition from the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, “halal” was defined as “permissible” in Arabic and was referring to food and non-food products that were lawful for consumption.
In addition, based on Shari’ah law, the concept covered other transactions such as banking, finance, and other activities Islam believers were engaged in.
During the Laging Handa briefing, Domingo said that they have asked for that information to the vaccine manufacturers.
“Iyong Pfizer-BioNTech, they are working on Halal certification. Iyong AstraZeneca, meron silang certification na walang animal product o animal source ang kanilang bakuna, but they are still working on their Halal certification,” Domingo added.
Domingo also said that only Sinovac had secured Halal certification so far but the Food and Drug Administration wasn’t yet done reviewing the results of its human clinical trials, which Sinovac only submitted last January 19, 2021.
READ ALSO: FDA OKs AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine For Emergency Use In PH
The Food and Drug Administration had issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) to COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford so far.
Based on the Food and Drug Administration’s evaluation, Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 showed an efficacy rate of 95% and 92% in its study population and among all races, respectively.
AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, for its part, was found to have a 70% efficacy rate after the first dose — a rating that went higher depending on the interval of giving the second dose — after FDA scrutiny.
Other COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers with pending EUA application before the Food and Drug Administration include China’s Sinovac, Russia’s Gamaleya, and India’s Bharat BioTech.
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