‘Morally compromised.’ Why one archdiocese urges Catholics to avoid newest COVID vaccine
The Archdiocese of New Orleans has advised Catholics against receiving the new Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, calling the one-dose shot “morally compromised.”
In a statement Friday, the religious organization said the new vaccine should be avoided due to its link to an “abortion-derived cell line” used in the vaccine’s development and production phases.
But the available vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are “morally acceptable,” the archdiocese wrote, because only some lab testing utilized stem cells from aborted fetuses, making their connection to abortion “extremely remote.”
“We maintain that the decision to receive the COVID-19 vaccine remains one of individual conscience in consultation with one’s healthcare provider,” the archdiocese wrote. “In doing so, we advise that if the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine is available, Catholics should choose to receive either of those vaccines rather than receive the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of its extensive use of abortion-derived cell lines.”
The Archdiocese of St. Louis echoed similar concerns Tuesday, saying the latest vaccine “should be avoided if there are alternatives (like Pfizer or Moderna) available,” KTVI reported.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is the third COVID-19 vaccine to be authorized for emergency use in the U.S., joining the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in the fight against the pandemic. Unlike its predecessors, the Johnson & Johnson shot only requires one dose and has an overall efficacy rate of about 66% in preventing moderate to severe coronavirus infection, McClatchy News reported.
Pfizer and Moderna have a 95% efficacy rate against symptomatic COVID-19 and require two doses separated by a few weeks.
The use of stem cells from aborted fetuses for medical purposes has long been decried by the Catholic church as “morally illicit.” However, the Vatican seemingly OK’d the use of such vaccines in December, writing: “All vaccinations recognized as clinically safe and effective can be used in good conscience with the certain knowledge that the use of such vaccines does not constitute formal cooperation with the abortion from which the cells used in production of the vaccines derive.”
Pope Francis has argued that people have a moral obligation to get vaccinated against the virus, although he has yet to address the new Johnson & Johnson shot specifically.
“It is the moral choice because it is about your life but also the lives of others,” he told Italy’s TG5 news in January. “If the doctors are presenting this to you as a thing that will go well and doesn’t have any special dangers, why not take it?”
Are abortion-derived cells used in the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine?
The Johnson & Johnson shot is a viral vector vaccine.
It works by delivering a harmless DNA virus called an adenovirus that has been genetically modified so it cannot make copies of itself in humans or cause disease — like a box that contains a user-friendly handbook on anything and everything coronavirus.
These types of viruses, when not manipulated by scientists, cause the common cold, “so they’re good for transporting things into humans,” the company said.
This modified virus carries specific instructions into our cells that teach them how to make the spike protein the novel coronavirus uses to infect people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And here’s where the human fetal cells step in.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a cell line called PER.C6 — a group of cells that can be kept in a lab for an extended period of time — owned by Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, to produce mass quantities of the adenoviruses used in the COVID-19 vaccine. They were made from eye cells from an 18-week-old fetus aborted in 1985, according to Science.
Our cells then display the spike proteins produced with the help of adenoviruses on their surfaces like a trophy on a pedestal, which the immune system doesn’t recognize. This triggers the production of coronavirus-fighting antibodies and primes the body to protect itself against the pathogen if it comes into contact with it.
This method is different from how the Pfizer and Moderna shots work. Instead of DNA, they insert mRNA — a molecule already found in the body — which stores directions teaching our cells to make copies of the coronavirus spike protein, sparking the creation of antibodies without the assistance of a separate harmless virus.
However, neither Pfizer-BioNTech’s nor Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine involves cells derived from aborted fetal tissue, according to a December fact check by USA Today.
“Neither the Pfizer nor the Moderna vaccine uses cell lines that originated in fetal tissue taken from the body of an aborted baby at any stage of design, development or production,” the University of Alabama at Birmingham reported in December.
At least four other developers working on COVID-19 vaccines use one of two human fetal cell lines: either PER.C6 used in the Johnson & Johnson shot or HEK-293, “a kidney cell line widely used in research and industry that comes from a fetus aborted in about 1972,” according to Science.
They include CanSino Biologics, Inc./Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, University of Oxford/AstraZeneca, University of Pittsburgh and ImmunityBio/NantKwest.
Roll-out of the new Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine is expected to begin immediately with nearly 4 million doses ready to be shipped across the U.S.
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 9:29 AM with the headline "‘Morally compromised.’ Why one archdiocese urges Catholics to avoid newest COVID vaccine."
