A safe and effective vaccine: An answer to prayer

The season of Advent is our time of preparation for the coming of the Lord. He comes in history, in mystery and in majesty. 

We acknowledge his coming in history at Christmas when we celebrate Jesus’ birth and the events surrounding his Nativity 2,000 years ago. His coming in majesty will occur at the end of the ages when he returns in glory to judge the living and the dead. His coming in mystery recognizes the many ways he comes to us between the other two “advents,” for example, through his word and the sacraments, and in the daily unfolding of his wise and loving Providence in our lives. Faith discerns the coming of the Lord and his gracious purposes in these ordinary events.

As I write this column, the first FDA-approved COVID vaccine from Pfizer is being shipped to all 50 states. Vaccinations are beginning. A second such authorization is expected for the Moderna vaccine in the days ahead. This is rightly being hailed as a remarkable scientific achievement, bringing a ray of hope to a world that has been devastated by fear, illness and death since the outbreak of this global pandemic. 

For persons of faith, we acknowledge this life-saving development not only as an amazing scientific and technological achievement, but also as an answer to prayer. Jesus is the Lord of history. He comes to our assistance. We believe that sometimes the Lord may work in extraordinary ways such as through miracles, but ordinarily he works through simple human agency. He has made the world intelligible and given knowledge and understanding to those who seek the truth. 

Science itself is a gift from God. It is a path (though not the only path) toward truth. There is no contradiction between faith and science. Truth is one. How science might be applied, however, requires further ethical evaluation.

We certainly give thanks to God for this scientific breakthrough that offers light shining in the darkness of fear and insecurity. But, the development of these COVID vaccines does raise other questions. Though the FDA approves a vaccine as safe and effective, we must ask if these vaccines have been developed ethically. Often, that means asking whether they have they been developed using materials from aborted fetal cells. If so, can we use them? 

There is some confusion and misinformation circulating about these questions. The Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines are completely synthetic. Neither of them utilized cell lines that originated in fetal tissue acquired through abortion to produce the vaccines. Of the various vaccines advancing toward FDA approval, these two are among those that have been ethically sourced. A very remote connection to abortion exists because both utilized a tainted cell line in one of their confirmatory tests. But, the remoteness of the connection to abortion is so remote that it would not make one who receives the vaccine morally complicit in the act of abortion. 

Other vaccines being developed may not have the same safe distance from abortion. Given a choice, one always ought to choose a vaccine that does not involve even remote material cooperation with abortion. However, we may not always have such choices. Vaccines are likely to be distributed regionally and the vaccine coming to one’s local pharmacy may not afford any choice at all. 

Given the seriousness of the public health crisis and the remoteness of the level of cooperation in an abortion that gave rise to the fetal cell lines used in a vaccine many decades ago, the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Pontifical Academy for Life as well as the U.S. Catholic bishops chairmen of the Doctrine and Pro-Life Activities Committees make clear that there is no moral culpability in using tainted vaccines, especially if there are no other choices for receiving the vaccine in a timely fashion and if there would be a serious risk to health for oneself or for others who might come in contact with us if we were to refrain from being vaccinated. 

We never can grow lax, however, in advocating for ethically sourced vaccines and registering our disapproval of those who rely on abortion to produce any vaccine.

Everyone must make their own health decisions in this matter. Certainly, parents must guide the health decisions for their families. Therefore, it becomes even more important that we have access to reliable information about these vaccines, not only about their risks and benefits, but the ethics involved in their development and use. 

I, for one, will be in line to receive the COVID vaccine as soon as my turn comes.