Page 19 - Vaccines

The existence and the use of vaccines

This approach lies behind interventions also by the
Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and of that of
the United States on the legitimacy of using such vaccines
against the coronavirus.⁸ A statement from the former on
24th September, 2020, apart from emphasising the need
for effective and safe vaccines, distributed in a just
manner, refers to a response to a request from Bishop
Sherrington to the British government for assurances that
vaccines were not being developed from the cells of
aborted foetuses, a response in which it was admitted that
some vaccines had been developed from such cells, but
that there were no plans to use further such foetuses.⁹ It
referred to the Pontifical texts just noted, which had been
issued up to that point, and concluded that, in the absence
of available and effective vaccines from sources which
were not morally compromised, there was a proportion-
ately grave reason which legitimates the use of safe and
effective vaccines, while urging the production of vaccines
from morally legitimate sources; it noted that there would
be those who would judge in good conscience that they
could make use of the vaccines soon to be available and
those who in good conscience could not do so. An updated
statement was released on 3ʳᵈ December, 2020, after
Astra-Zeneca’s vaccine was approved in the country, since

⁸ Cf. Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Department of
Justice, Statement, “Covid-19 and Vaccination”, 24ᵗʰ September,
2020.
⁹ Ibid: “A response has now been received from the [U.K. Govern-
ment's] Department for Health and Social Care which recognises
that the source of the vaccine raises moral concerns and gives
assurance that no new human foetal issue will be used in making
the vaccine, although cell-lines developed from the remains of
aborted foetuses in the past are being researched by some
institutions. The Department has also given assurances that any
vaccine which is developed will be safe and effective.”

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