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Jakarta.  One of the two meningitis vaccines deemed suitable for Muslims by the country’s highest Islamic authority has been approved by the drug board, while the other is in the works, an official said on Friday.

“The vaccine developed by Novartis was issued a registration number on Wednesday,” said Sri Indrawati, the Ministry of Health’s director general for pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.

She said the drug stocks were in Italy and could take up to three weeks to get to Indonesia.

Meningitis vaccinations are required for hajj pilgrims, and Indrawati said the ministry expected to begin vaccinations in mid-September.

This year’s hajj begins in mid-November.

“Meanwhile, the BPOM [Food and Drug Monitoring Agency] is still evaluating the vaccine from Tianyuan before it issues it a registration number,” Indrawati said.

The vaccines were rushed into BPOM evaluation after the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) decreed last Monday that the prescribed meningitis vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline was unsuitable for Muslims because of its use of porcine-derived components.

The Ministry of Health, which had already paid Rp 20 billion ($2.2 million) for that vaccine, was forced to halt its distribution to community health centers across the country. It has been forced to spend an extra Rp 54 billion to procure the new vaccines for an estimated 211,000 pilgrims.

Indrawati said anyone planning to go on a minor pilgrimage, or umrah, would only have access to the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine at community health centers. “That’s all we have at the moment, so pilgrims should be fully aware of the issue if they do decide to get the vaccine at a government-run clinic,” she said.

Meanwhile, GlaxoSmithKline has called on the MUI to do further tests on its product, but the council says it cannot repeal its edict without solid proof the vaccine does not contain components derived from pigs.

“We can’t annul the fatwa until GlaxoSmithKline comes up with new proof,” MUI secretary general Ichwan Sam said.