January 10

Weekend Bulletin
Children’s Bulletin

Deacon’s Digest
What about the vaccine?

You have no doubt heard much news about the coronavirus vaccine. While this has been received with great joy and anticipation by some it has been a cause for questions in others. There has been a lot of speculation and talk that the vaccines were developed from fetal tissue or embryonic stem cells derived from aborted babies. The other question is whether, for the common good, if I am compelled to take the vaccine.

Fortunately, our Bishop and Bishop Muhich from Rapid City have had the South Dakota Catholic Conference study the issue in-depth and have come forward with a statement. That document is almost 3 pages long so I will attempt to give you a condensed version of it here.

First question - were these vaccines developed by using aborted tissue or cell lines?

The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were NOT developed using these methods. There is speculation that these two may have used cell lines from aborted babies to test the efficacy of the vaccines. Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca did use abortion-derived cell lines in the manufacture of their COVID vaccines.

Since the actual vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer were not made with any abortion-derived cell lines or tissue the Bishops (ours and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) have said it is permissible to receive these vaccines. To be clear, any Catholic can, in sound conscience, receive the COVID19 vaccines developed by Pfizer or Moderna.

The other question is “must I receive the vaccine for the common good”?  This question has been raised by some people wondering if it is their moral duty to be vaccinated for the protection of others.  In the Bishops’ statement, it says that “Vaccination is a decision that each person must make for oneself and for those under one’s care (for example, one’s children or an incapacitated adult).” They go on to state: “In the present circumstances, as we near the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 in our country, and with the considerable social, economic, physical, emotional, and even spiritual harms we have seen endured across the human family and recognizing that many persons remain vulnerable, accepting a safe and effective vaccine may be justified as a moral good, an act of solidarity and charity, and is arguably a work of mercy.”

Once again, this comes down to a rational decision based on the individual and the circumstances in which they live. If a person is in care of persons with particular vulnerabilities they should indeed strongly consider being vaccinated. If, for other good and rational reasons, a person decides not to be vaccinated that is morally acceptable as well.  The Bishops state that since this vaccine was developed in a timeframe that is unprecedented in modern medicine that there may be long term effects that are presently unknown. Indeed, the vaccine has not been tested on children and is NOT approved for use on them.

In summary:

¨ Catholics may accept COVID-19 vaccines in good conscience, despite the remote connection to abortion, IF no better alternatives exist and for a proportionally serious reason.

¨ COVID-19 vaccination is not a moral obligation; rather, it calls for the discernment of many factors.

The full documents are available on the diocesan website: www.sfcatholic.org