Why the use of fetal cell lines shouldn’t stop you from taking the COVID-19 vaccine
I want you to reflect back to the time when you found out you were allowed to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Did you feel relief knowing that you would be just a little bit safer from this awful pandemic? Or did you feel dread because you knew you had to choose whether you should take the vaccine or not? I can imagine that the vast majority of you probably felt relief seeing as [as of October 23rd, 2021] 57.2% [1] of the total US population is fully vaccinated. Despite being the majority, there is still a vast population of the US that is still not vaccinated. This may seem reprehensible to you, or you may be the person who is still trying to decide whether to be vaccinated or not. In any case, I think it is important to take the time to consider why making that leap might be very easy for some and unbelievably difficult for others.
Let us begin by discussing the ethical reasons to get vaccinated. The main and most obvious reason is to protect yourself and others from COVID-19. Many would argue that as a member of an interconnected society such as ours, we each have an altruistic responsibility to act in the best interest of our society. There is a cascade of benefits of having most of the population take the vaccine. The first being herd immunity. The people who are vaccinated protect the ones who have not yet been vaccinated, or people who cannot take the vaccine due to other prior medical conditions (meaning that the efficacy of the vaccine would be limited for them). This then will reduce severe COVID-19 cases, allowing hospitals and clinics to return to treating other patients who desperately need medical care but have not come in due to the fear of becoming infected or allowing for elective procedures which have been delayed causing non-urgent cases to become urgent [2]. Additionally, it can protect disadvantaged minorities who may not have access to good, reliable medical care or are not able to reach vaccination distribution sites [1].
There are some moral or religious objections to taking the vaccine for people to consider, one of which is the use of fetal cell lines in the design, production, or testing of the vaccines. Fetal cell lines refer to specific cell samples that are taken from an aborted fetus. The cells will continually be replicated in a laboratory setting to be used for various purposes including vaccine development and testing. In the case of the COVID-19 vaccines, there are two fetal cell lines that are being used: HEK-293 and PER.C6 [3]. These are both historic and immortalized fetal cell lines derived from cells taken from 2 different elective abortions. The HEK-293 kidney cell line is derived from the elective abortion of a female fetus in 1973 [6]. The PER.C6 is a retinal cell line that is derived from an aborted fetus in 1985 [6].
All commercially available vaccines (AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson) use some form of these cell lines whether that be for design & development or for production or for lab testing [4].
Specific uses of Fetal Cell Lines in Commercial COVID-19 Vaccines [4]
One concern that certain pro-life groups choosing not to take the vaccine have been that the use of these cell lines implies that it is morally acceptable to have abortions. Whilst the choice to have or not have an abortion should be left to the persons involved, this concern can be countered with a simple argument. The cell lines used in this case were derived from abortions that were not performed with the intent to provide cells for developing vaccines today [7]. The abortions were performed by the individuals involved to simply end a pregnancy. The fact that these cell lines are now used for vaccine development does not change the initial intention of why these abortions occurred in the first place. Another argument that can be considered is that these events are quite separate in time. In fact, whilst these abortions occurred in 1973 and 1985, the cells themselves were not used till 1995 [7]. This means that the vaccine is separated in terms of moral complicity from the abortions that occurred. We can also consider the Ship of Theseus argument, which is that these cells have been replicated so many times that none of the original tissue matter is used [7]. This means that the cells that are used for development or testing do not have the original cell matter from the initial abortion, suggesting that there is little to no connection between the vaccine and the initial abortions.
Additionally, we can consider the religious argument that taking the vaccine implies that killing a life is morally acceptable. Regardless of when you believe that life starts, as stated previously, these abortions were not performed with the intent to provide cells for vaccine development. And, almost all religious texts support the idea of altruism which we can consider (in the pandemic) to mean taking the vaccine to protect as many people as possible from disease. In fact, most religious leaders of all faiths have come out to say that taking the COVID-19 vaccine is morally acceptable. For example, the Vatican has stated that “it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.” [5]. Another example to be considered is that the pro-life organization, the Charlotte Lozier Institute, found the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be ethically uncontroversial. Further research into what your religious organization believes regarding the vaccine can be used as a guide for your personal decision.
Overall, there are a lot of a lot of ethical issues concerning the COVID-19 vaccine and this article has only explored a select few of them. However, if you are someone who has had trouble with deciding to take the vaccine or not, I hope this article has helped to give some clarity on issues that may have been holding you back from taking the vaccine.
*Edited by Andy Colando
References
Carlsen, A., Huang, P., Levitt, Z., & Wood, D. (2021, October 28). How is the COVID-19 vaccination campaign going in your state? NPR. Retrieved October 29, 2021, from https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/28/960901166/how-is-the-covid-19-vaccination-campaign-going-in-your-state?t=1617364347659.
Covid-19: Healthcare delivery impacts. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2021, from https://files.asprtracie.hhs.gov/documents/covid-19-healthcare-delivery-impacts.pdf.
Los Angeles County COVID-19 vaccine and fetal cell lines. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2021, from http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/docs/vaccine/VaccineDevelopment_FetalCellLines.pdf.
Prentice, D. (2021, June 16). Update: COVID-19 Vaccine Candidates and Abortion-Derived Cell Lines. Retrieved from https://lozierinstitute.org/update-covid-19-vaccine-candidates-and-abortion-derived-cell-lines/
Note on the morality of using some anti-covid-19 vaccines (21 December 2020). (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2021, from https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20201221_nota-vaccini-anticovid_en.html.
Covid-19 Vaccines & Fetal Cell Lines - Department of Health. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2021, from https://www.health.nd.gov/sites/www/files/documents/COVID%20Vaccine%20Page/COVID-19_Vaccine_Fetal_Cell_Handout.pdf.
Zimmerman, R. K. (2021, July 13). Helping patients with ethical concerns about COVID-19 vaccines in light of fetal cell lines used in some COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccine. Retrieved October 29, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8205255/.
