Feature: Vaccination continues for Muslims in Indonesia in holy month of Ramadan

JAKARTA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Fetry Asti, 30, did not hesitate to get a second jab of the COVID-19 vaccine even though she was fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. Working as a journalist for a daily newspaper means more chances to be exposed to the coronavirus. She has to go outdoors often in order to cover news events, and believes that vaccination is the right way to protect herself from the pandemic. On Wednesday, she traveled 8.5 km from home in the east of the capital to Jakarta City Hall to receive the vaccine. "The vaccination must be complete on time. If it is not, we have to rebuild the antibodies all over again," Asti noted. Indonesia is pushing its COVID-19 vaccination drive in the holy month of Ramadan or 30 days with daily fasting from around 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the Muslim community, which accounts for majority of the country's population. The Health Ministry's spokesperson for the COVID-19 Vaccination Siti Nadia Tarmizi said the inoculation campaign has continued after the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), a top Muslim clerical body, issued a fatwa that COVID-19 vaccination is allowed in Ramadan and it does not break their fast. "Based on this recommendation, we continue to carry out vaccination during the month of Ramadan," said Tarmizi. Tarmizi added that vaccination participants only need to get enough rest and eat nutritious food during pre-dawn meal before taking the jab. "COVID-19 vaccination, which is carried out by intramuscular injection, does not break the fast," said Asrorun Ni'am Sholeh, chief of the MUI Fatwa Commission. Moreover, the MUI made three recommendations in order that the COVID-19 vaccination in Ramadan will run smoothly in Indonesia. First, vaccination during the fasting month is allowed to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 by adjusting the physical condition of fasting Muslims. Second, vaccination can be done in the day or night after Muslims break their fasting if it is feared will weaken their physical condition. The third recommendation is that Muslims must participate in COVID-19 vaccination in order to realize herd immunity against the pandemic. Vaccination against COVID-19 in Indonesia kicked off on Jan. 13 this year, with a target of inoculating 181.5 million people until next year. As of Thursday, Indonesia had administered 17.92 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, including 6.49 million second doses for people. Meanwhile, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Southeast Asian country was recorded at 1,626,812, with 1,481,449 recoveries and 44,172 deaths. *http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/asiapacific/2021-04/22/c_139898931.htm