Health officials confirm gelatine in nasal vaccine contains traces of pork – meaning it is against the religious rules of Muslims to allow their children to be immunised
A flu vaccine for children contains traces of PORK – and that could mean thousands of Muslim children could miss out on protection against the winter bug.
Health officials have admitted concerns after it emerged that the majority of Muslim parents would not accept the use of a new nasal vaccine called Fluenz.
The product is being used to vaccinate all children in England aged two, three and four.
And in some parts of the country all primary school children and pupils in years seven and eight of secondary school will also receive the jab, reports the Huddersfield Daily Examiner.
Health chiefs in the Kirklees area of West Yorkshire have confirmed there is a tiny amount of pork gelatine in the vaccine following concerns raised by Muslim parents.
But Islamic scholars in other parts of the UK and the world have declared it is halal, they say.
Lynn Batley, practice manager at Mount Pleasant Medical Centre in Batley, an area with a high Muslim population, said many parents were getting upset when they found out there was no alternative for their children.
"We’re having to do the explaining to parents and that’s not always good," she said.
"Some are getting quite angry because we're not allowed to give the normal injected vaccine to healthy children.
"We are allowed to give it to children at risk, such as ones with asthma, but well children are not allowed it. It's confusing for everyone.
"About 60% of our patients are Muslim so it's affecting a significant amount of people."
A report to the Kirklees Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board reveals public health officials consulted with Islamic scholars at Huddersfield and Dewsbury hospitals.
They discussed the matter “at length” and consulted the community before rejecting Fluenz.
The Kirklees Department of Public Health has now raised concerns with Public Health England (PHE) that a “significant proportion” of Kirklees’s children will not be immunised.
PHE says there is no alternative and traditional injectable vaccines are not effective or as long lasting in children.
A crisis meeting between Department for Health, NHS and Kirklees officials is now set to take place to consider what to do.
A source claims a change in policy to allow injections is being considered.
Akooji Badat, a committee member at Snowden Street mosque in Batley, said many considered the vaccine unnecessary and therefore would not break the religious rules of shunning pork content.
He explained: "If I was fasting and it was a life or death situation then I would break it.
“But a flu vaccine hasn’t been proved to be necessary – you can do without it. Gelatine is bad news as far as the Muslim community is concerned. If they could find an alternative we would go for it."
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