The grant of Emergency Use Authorization for the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine raised controversy because it utilizes abortion-derived cell lines to a greater extent than do the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines. The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) highlights the following points:
View Full PostFather Tad answered call-in questions about bioethics on a January 29, 2021, episode of EWTN’s Catholic Answers Live show. Questions included should Catholics get the Vaccine for COVID-19? What is remote cooperation? Does the COVID-19 vaccine use human embryos in its development? Is this vaccine going to be made mandatory?
View Full PostThe utilization of abortion-derived cell lines in COVID-19 vaccines raises important ethical questions. The NCBC recognizes ethical distinctions among available COVID-19 vaccines based on their utilization of abortion-derived cell lines when all other considerations are equal. Vaccines that do not use abortion-derived cell lines in any phase of design, manufacture, or testing are the best ethical choice if they are reasonably available, safe, and effective. Vaccines that utilize abortion-derived cell lines in a more limited manner, such as for confirmatory testing, are preferable to those that utilize abortion-derived cell lines in more than one phase of development and, in particular, in the manufacturing process.
View Full PostPfizer has announced a new COVID-19 vaccine with 90% efficiency – but were fetal cell lines involved? Joseph Meaney, Ph.D., president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, answers our questions.
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