Rabat – With Ramadan just one month ahead, many people are questioning whether the COVID-19 vaccine might interfere with the fast.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar when Muslim people across the world fast from dawn to sunset.
Moroccan doctor Mounir Lahlou told Morocco World News that the COVID-19 vaccine does not affect the fast.
A doctor in the public sector in Casablanca’s Moulay Rachid Hospital, Lahlou reassured citizens and residents that they can take vaccine doses during Ramadan.
The doctor added that the vaccination campaign will be more intensified during the holy month of Ramadan.
“The vaccination campaign in Morocco will not stop during Ramadan. On the contrary, it will get to its top levels during the month,” Doctor Lahou added.
Morocco launched the vaccination campaign on January 28. The campaign seeks to cover 33 million people or 80% of the population.
Morocco has vaccinated around 3,820,097 people to date.
Approximately 413,032 people have received their second dose of the vaccine.
Lahlou is among the doctors who are participating in the vaccination campaign in Casablanca.
Casablanca has been the most affected region in the Casablanca-Settat region since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Morocco continues to record COVID-19 cases but at a slower pace compared to the first months following the start of the outbreak.
The country counted 485,147 COVID-19 cases, including 470,933 recoveries, and 8,669 deaths as of March 4.
With regards to the COVID-19 vaccine, Islamic organizations and experts have echoed Lahlou’s position suggesting that the COVID-19 vaccine does not invalidate fasting during Ramadan.
Recently, the British Islamic Medical Association said that taking the COVID-19 vaccines that are permitted in the UK does not invalidate the fast.
Citing the opinion of Islamic scholars, the association said that subcutaneous, subdermal, intramuscular, interosseous, or intra-articular injections for non-nutritional purposes whilst fasting do not invalidate the fast.”
Notice to people with diabetes
Every Ramadan people who take injections for different medical purposes raise questions about whether the medicine invalidates their fast.
Some people with diabetes give up their insulin injections during Ramadan and take them until dawn or during breakfast (iftar).
Lahlou warned diabetics regarding fasting.
“Those who take the [insulin] injection should refrain from fasting anyway,” Doctor Lahlou told MWN.
Many international associations recommend people with type 1 diabetes should refrain from fasting.
The American Diabetes Association said: “patients with type 1 diabetes, especially if ‘brittle’ or poorly controlled, are at very high risk of developing severe complications and should be strongly advised to not fast during Ramadan.”
The association added that patients who are unwilling or not able to monitor their blood glucose levels repeatedly on a daily basis are at high risk and “should be advised to not fast.”
