Top Kurdistan Region religious authority says COVID-19 vaccine doesn’t break Ramadan fast
Kurdistan Region and much of the Islamic world designated April 13 as the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, in which Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, and smoking from sunrise to sunset for the period of one month.
The Region, for the second time, is celebrating the religious occasion during the COVID-19 pandemic. What distinguishes this year’s Ramdan from last year is that the autonomous region recently launched its COVID-19 vaccination program.
Soon, the question rose of whether it is permissible for people to receive vaccine shots during Ramadan, for fear it might break their fast. Kurdistan 24 asked the head of the Kurdistan Region’s Islamic Scholars Union about the issue.
“Getting vaccine shots does not break fasting at all,” Abdulla Mullah Said, the head of the Union, told Kurdistan 24 on Tuesday, explaining that vaccine jabs are not categorized as “food and drink that gives energy.”
Therefore, people can receive the shots while they fast, the Islamic scholar said.
Health authorities in the Region regularly urge citizens to get the available vaccines – AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, and Pfizer – as they considered a game changer in the fight against coronavirus.
The Kurdistan Region’s ministry of religious affairs said it had decided to again allow the general public to gather in mosques during Ramadan, but with new health rules restricting common practices and mandating the use of face coverings.
