VACCINE RESOURCES
The NCBC provides ethics education, guidance, and resources regarding vaccination for individuals and institutions, including dioceses and State Catholic Conferences, as part of its mission to uphold the dignity of the human person in health care and biomedical research.
Ethical guidance on vaccination is governed by the virtues of charity, justice, and prudence, and includes considerations such as clinical details about diseases and vaccine products, informed consent and the elements of moral decision-making, moral responsibilities for individual health and for the common good, professional ethics, public health, and law.
The NCBC’s approach to vaccination decisions and policies is built on key teachings and principles in the Catholic moral tradition, including but not limited to:
The Church teaches that “Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common good.” Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2288.
The Holy See has accepted and promoted the practice of immunization for decades.
The Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Catholic Church has taught “that vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary.” Note on the Morality of Using Some Anti-Covid-19 Vaccines, 2020.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has taught that vaccines produced or tested using tissues obtained after direct abortions may be used for grave reasons. See Dignitas Personae, 2008, no. 35.
The Church has not taught that vaccines constitute an ordinary (obligatory) means of preserving life even though the Church has authoritatively taught about one form of ordinary (obligatory) means: “the administration of food and water even by artificial means is, in principle, an ordinary and proportionate means of preserving life.” Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration, 2005.
The Catholic Church has taught that conscience plays an indispensable role in human action. See Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 1776-1794.
Health care institutions and clinicians have an ethical duty to facilitate informed consent—by disclosing relevant information, ensuring that patients understand it, and respecting patients’ decisions. “This obligation to obtain consent requires that the person or the person’s surrogate receive all reasonable information about the essential nature of the proposed treatment and its expected benefits; its risks, side-effects, consequences, and cost; and the same information about any reasonable and morally legitimate alternatives, including no treatment at all.” Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, 7th ed., no. 26.
Governments (federal, state, and local) are responsible for respecting the lives of all persons and for promoting the common good (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 1897-1948; 2234-2243). All government actions surrounding vaccination, from regulating vaccine products to issuing standards and considering the enactment of mandates, should respect the rights and dignity of human persons and the common good, including material, cultural, moral, and spiritual goods (see Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church, 2004, nos. 168-170). They should reflect veracity and transparency of information (see Compendium of the Social Doctrine, no. 480), rejection of ideology and corruption, and justice.
Public health measures and policies should be built upon sound science and ethical principles.
Since technology, public policy, and the availability of information can change over time, the NCBC periodically updates its guidance for bishops, health care ministries, and the public, as relevant information may demand.
To set up an institutional policy consultation, see our Institutional Consultations & Services page.
To learn more about Catholic bioethics, including educational opportunities like our National Catholic Certification in Health Care Ethics, see our Education page.
To join the conversation on bioethical issues, sign up as an NCBC member or subscribe to our academic journal, The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, or our monthly bulletin, Ethics & Medics.