新型コロナワクチンと牛・豚脂使用の1853年型エンフィールド銃

 

Faith or safety? Covid vaccines spark religious concerns over pork gelatin, cow blood

Covid-19 vaccines may face religious hurdles in India. While Islamic clerics are divided over the acceptability of vaccines allegedly made with pork gelatin, sections of Hindu saints have demanded clarification on the use of ‘cow blood’.

New Delhi

December 28, 2020

UPDATED: December 29, 2020 05:00 IST

After months of research, tests and trials, Covid-19 vaccines are finally here. Vaccination will start after a final go-ahead from government and regulatory authorities.

But before vaccines can hit health centres across India, they may have to cross another hurdle. Sections of Hindu and Muslim clerics have raised concerns over some rumoured contents in Covid-19 vaccines.

While Muslim clerics are divided over alleged pork gelatin in a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine, sections of Hindu leaders have demanded clarification over the reported use of cow blood in vaccines. While consumption of pork in any form is ‘haram’ or forbidden in Islam, the cow is revered as mother and holy animal in Hinduism.

‘Pork gelatin’

Islamic ulemas or scholars in Mumbai recently declared that no Muslim will be administered Covid-19 vaccines made from pork gelatin.

“Even if a pig's hair falls in a well, water from that well is forbidden for Muslims. Hence, as per Islamic law, a vaccine which contains pig gelatin cannot treat any disease,” the decision taken at a meeting of Sunni Ulemas in Mumbai said.

However, Sunni maulvis in Lucknow differed on the subject. Speaking to India Today TV, Maulana Saif Abbaz said that Islam grants permission to use any medicine at the time of an emergency because protecting life is paramount in Islam. “If a medicine, even if it is made of un-Islamic things, can save lives, it should be consumed,” the Sunni maulvi said.

Another Sunni religious leader from Lucknow, Maulana Sufiyan Nizami, agreed with Maulana Saif Abbaz. “It is not reasonable to create rumours about a medicine which is yet not available in the market. Even if there is any non-Islamic thing used in medicine, then it is up to the doctor to decide what is necessary. It would be unbecoming to comment on it right now, let the medicine come,” Maulana Sufiyan Nizami said.

A similar decree has been issued by the UAE’s highest Islamic authority, the UAE Fatwa Council. The council has ruled that coronavirus vaccines are permissible for Muslims even if the vaccine contains pork gelatin.

Council Chairman Sheikh Abdallah bin Bayyah said that if there are no alternatives, coronavirus vaccines would not be subject to Islam's restrictions on pork because of the higher need to "protect the human body".

The council added that in this case, pork gelatin is considered medicine, not food, with multiple vaccines already shown to be effective against a highly contagious virus that "poses a risk to the entire society".

‘Cow blood’

While sections of the Muslim community have been alarmed and divided over the alleged use of pork gelatin in a certain Covid-19 vaccine developed by the Chinese, All India Hindu Mahasabha has sought clarification on the use of cow blood in all Covid-19 vaccines.

Mahasabha president Swami Chakrapani has written to President Ram Nath Kovind demanding that the government and pharmaceutical companies clarify whether Covid-19 vaccines contain cow blood.

In a memorandum to the President, Chakrapani said it should be clarified that cow blood or any such substance has not been used in the vaccine, which "hurts the spirit of Hindu Sanatan Dharma".

In the memorandum, Chakrapani expressed concern over an "international conspiracy to destroy religion by feeding cow's blood, meat or fat in the name of corona vaccine and medicine".

, - pic.twitter.com/UgOj1idLAF

— Swami Chakrapani Maharaj (@SwamyChakrapani) December 27, 2020

‘Abortion cell lines’

The concerns over ‘unreligious’ contents of Covid-19 vaccines are not limited to Hindus or Muslims. Sections of the Christian community across the world are also debating the acceptability of vaccines due to the alleged use of fetal tissue from abortions.

Abortion is considered a grave sin among Catholic Christians.

After a series of conflicting pronouncements by bishops across the world, the Vatican -- the highest seat of Catholic Christianity -- declared that it is “morally acceptable” for Roman Catholics to receive Covid-19 vaccines based on research that used cells derived from aborted fetuses.

The Vatican concluded that “it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses” in the research and production process when “ethically irreproachable” vaccines aren’t available to the public.

The Vatican statement came after some churchmen in the United States argued that such products were immoral.

https://www.indiatoday.in/coronavirus-outbreak/vaccine-updates/story/religious-hurdle-for-covid-19-vaccines-religious-leaders-raise-concern-over-pork-gelatin-cow-blood-in-vaccines-1753992-2020-12-28

この意味がわからんと何も見えてこないんですよ。（爆ｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗ