(26 Sep 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sumenep, East Java, Indonesia – 08 September 2025
1. Vaccine injected into the little girl’s arm
2. A hand drawn vaccine from the bottle
3. Health workers sit on the porch of a house in the village while the mother of the house stands holding her daughter
4. SOUNDBITE (Indonesian): Ahmad Syamsuri, the head of Disease Control and Prevention at the Sumenep Health Office ++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON SHOT1 AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT 2-3++
"We are still facing issues regarding halal and haram related to the contents of the vaccine, even though the Indonesian Ulema Council has already issued a fatwa (to permitting it)."
5. Wide shot of women attending a socialization event for measles immunization
6. A doctor explaining to the women
7. Women listening
8. SOUNDBITE (Indonesian): Ayu Resa Etika, Mother ++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON SHOT5 AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT 6-7&9++
“There is some doubt because it is not halal. But despite all that, this is for the sake of the child’s health,” Etika said. “The effects are quite serious; it can cause death. I am afraid that if my son is not vaccinated against measles, that is the risk. So it’s okay, as long as the effects are good.”
9. Tilt up from Erika’s toddler being vaccinated to Erika’s happy face.
10. Street shot, Jamik Mosque in the center of Sumenep city.
11. Various shots of people jogging in front of the mosque
12. SOUNDBITE (Indonesian) : Musthafa, the general secretary of the Indonesian Ulema Council in Sumenep ++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT13++
"We have high hopes for Muslims in Indonesia, where the number is very large, who are the ones consuming the vaccine. Let’s ask the government, in this case the Health Office and the Ministry of Health, to find a halal vaccine."
13. Mother holding child getting vaccinated
STORYLINE:
Three health care workers rode motorbikes into the Indonesian city of Sumenep, carrying doses of measles vaccine and a list of children who needed them. With blue medical boxes in hand, they went from house to house administering the life-saving shots.
The health workers on wheels are part of the regional government’s latest efforts to curb a deadly measles outbreak on Madura Island that has persisted for the past nine months. More than 2,600 children have already been infected this year and 20 have died.
But efforts to stop the outbreak from spreading through the predominately Muslim population are being hindered in part by concerns that some measles vaccines may not meet Islam’s halal standards because they use a stabilizer that is derived from pigs.
Pork-derived gelatin is widely used as a stabilizer to ensure vaccines remain safe and effective during storage and transport, presenting a dilemma to religious communities that view pigs as ritually unclean. Many Islamic scholars say that vaccines with gelatin stabilizers can be used under religious law, as can other medical products with pig-derived ingredients, under certain conditions.
Indonesian religious leaders ruled in 2018 that vaccines with pig gelatin are haram, or forbidden, but advised Muslims that they should be used until other shots are available “for the benefit of society,” said Ahmad Syamsuri, the head of Disease Control and Prevention at the Sumenep Health Office.
Religious concerns drive vaccine hesitancy for some in Sumenep, although many are reluctant to even discuss these concerns.
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, has reported previous outbreaks of measles, mostly driven by gaps in vaccination coverage.
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