Indonesia's Ulema Council said on 8 January 2021 that a COVID-19 vaccine produced by China's Sinovac Biotech is deemed halal, or permissible under Islam, Reuters news agency reported on Friday.

This comes days before Indonesia is scheduled to start its inoculation programme using the Chinese vaccine.

Asrorun Niam Sholeh of the council's fatwa commission was quoted as telling a news conference that the vaccine, named CoronaVac, was "holy and halal".

However, authorisation still rests on the Indonesia's food and drug agency.

Currently Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, has received three million doses of CoronaVac.