VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas - 

Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said the government had decided to cancel the 2021 haj program due to soaring COVID-19 infections.

“This is a bitter pill that we have to swallow. The sole reason behind the cancellation is that we have placed the safety of our pilgrims as the top priority. I hope the pandemic will end soon,” Yaqut told a press briefing on Friday.

Indonesia is continuing to see a soaring number of daily infections, averaging over 5,000 cases nationwide, with only a slight decrease to 4,824 cases on June 1.

Meanwhile, the top 10 contributing countries to the annual pilgrimage are also seeing a resurgence in COVID-19 transmission. India, for example, recorded 132,788 cases on June 1, while Iraq recorded 4,170 daily cases and Iran 10,687 cases on the same date.

Neighboring Malaysia recorded 7,105 cases on Tuesday and is now in lockdown. This is the second time that Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, is not sending its nationals on the haj due to the pandemic. Yaqut said the government’s decision was in line with Law No. 8/2019 on haj and umrah, which stipulates public health, safety and security as primary considerations for the government before it issues any decisions related to religious pilgrimages.

He said the decision was taken following a series of consultations with relevant stakeholders, including House of Representatives Commission VIII overseeing religious affairs, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and the foreign, health and transportation ministries. “We will communicate this message to the public so they can also understand,” Yaqut said.

“The Saudi government has yet to invite all relevant governments to talk about the haj. So to date, no country has been informed about their haj quota,” he added.

The minister also said that potential pilgrims who had completed their haj payments would be automatically included on next year’s haj program, while the government would reimburse any pilgrims who wanted to cancel.

“The pilgrims’ money is safe. Please beware of any fake news or hoaxes that say otherwise,” Yaqut said.

Separately, lawmaker Hasan Basri Agus from the Golkar Party faction has thrown his support behind the decision to cancel this year’s haj program.

He said Riyadh had sent a clear signal by not announcing the haj quota. Earlier, House Deputy Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad suggested this was likely because the vaccines Indonesia used were not on the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), and that this had made the Saudi government reconsider.

“If this is true, we should learn from this lesson. We are not going to discuss this [further] until we know for sure,” the Gerindra Party lawmaker said as quoted by detik.com.

Indonesia’s mass vaccination program primarily uses the Sinovac vaccine, which was only added to the WHO’s EUL on Tuesday//JP

A phial of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine concentrate is diluted with 1.8ml sodium chloride ready for use at Guy's Hospital. Victoria Jones/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo - 

A double dose of COVID-19 vaccines is almost as effective against the fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus first identified in India as it is against Britain's dominant strain, English health officials said on Saturday (May 22).

Britain's health minister said the data was groundbreaking and he was increasingly hopeful that the government would be able to lift more COVID restrictions next month.

That compared with 93 per cent effectiveness against the B117 "Kent" strain which is Britain's dominant COVID variant.

Two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were 60 per cent effective against symptomatic disease from the Indian variant compared with 66 per cent effectiveness against the Kent variant, PHE said.

"I'm increasingly confident that we're on track for the roadmap, because this data shows that the vaccine, after two doses, works just as effectively (against the Indian variant)," Health Secretary Matt Hancock told broadcasters.

Under the government's plans, a lifting of remaining coronavirus restrictions is due to take place from Jun 21.

Britain has rushed out Europe's fastest vaccination programme so far but it has faced a new challenge from the spread of the variant first found in India.

Data published on Saturday showed new COVID cases reported in Britain rose by 10.5 per cent in the seven days to May 22 although it remained a fraction of levels seen earlier this year.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson this month ordered an acceleration of remaining second doses to the over 50s and people who are clinically vulnerable.

Hancock said that showed that getting both doses of the vaccine was "absolutely vital."

Concern about rising cases in Britain of the variant first found in India prompted Germany to say on Friday that anyone entering the country from the United Kingdom would have to quarantine for two weeks on arrival.

Also on Friday, the head of Germany's public health institute said existing COVID-19 vaccines might be less effective against the B16172 variant//CNA

A teacher from Yangon University of Education holds a sign with a red ribbon while taking part in a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, February 5, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo - 

More than 125,000 school teachers in Myanmar have been suspended by the military authorities for joining a civil disobedience movement to oppose the military coup in February, an official of the Myanmar Teachers' Federation said.

The suspensions have come days before the start of a new school year, which some teachers and parents are boycotting as part of the campaign that has paralysed the country since the coup cut short a decade of democratic reforms.

Myanmar had 430,000 school teachers according to the most recent data, from two years ago.

"These are just statements to threaten people to come back to work. If they actually fire this many people, the whole system will stop," said the official, who is also a teacher. He said he had been told that the charges he faces would be dropped if he returns.

Reuters was unable to reach a junta spokesman or the education ministry for comment. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper has called on teachers and students to return to schools to get the education system started again.

The disruption at schools echoes that in the health sector and across government and private business since the Southeast Asian country was plunged into chaos by the coup and the arrest of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Around 19,500 university staff have also been suspended, according to the teachers' group.

A National Unity Government, set up underground by opponents of the junta, said it would do all it could to support the teachers and students itself - calling on foreign donors to stop funding the junta-controlled education ministry//CNA

Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed Moderna logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration - 

Moderna said on Saturday (May 22) it has entered into an agreement with Samsung Biologics, a deal which will allow the South Korean biopharmaceutical firm to produce the US company's mRNA vaccine.

Moderna intends to supply these vaccines to markets outside of the United States starting in the third quarter of 2021, it said in a press release.

The firm also signed two memoranda of understanding (MOU) with South Korea's government, one with Korea National Institute of Health (KNIH) and another with Ministry of Trade and Industry and Energy of the Republic of Korea (MOTIE).

South Korea has secured access to 40 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, Moderna said.

"We will continue to explore options for establishing potential local manufacturing opportunities in South Korea," Moderna's Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel said//CNA