During the early stages of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, some faith leaders are encouraging members to get vaccinated against the virus that, so far, has killed more than 300,000 people in the United States.
Archbishop Gregory J Hartmayer, head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta, issued a Dec. 15 memo to priests, school and chancery staff addressing the “moral implications” of the vaccines and encouraged them to get the shots when they become available.
“Should you get a COVID-19 vaccine? The short answer is yes,” Hartmayer said in the statement.
Some people decide not to take vaccines, claiming it violates aspects of their religious beliefs. One of the issues, they say, is concern about the use of tissue or cell lines from fetuses aborted decades ago.
Hartmayer’s statement cites the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities and the Committee on Doctrine that neither the Pfizer nor Moderna coronavirus vaccines — the first two vaccines that will be available to the public — “used morally compromised cell lines in the design, development, or production of the vaccine.”
The statement goes on to say that a confirmatory test using a “morally compromised” cell line was performed on both vaccines, but “in this case the connection is very remote from the initial evil of the abortion.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has said it would “continue to advocate for a vaccine with no connection to abortion.”
Earlier this week, five Savannah nurses were the first people in Georgia to be administered the Pfizer vaccine, which was fast-tracked by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Vaccines are expected to be more widely available in 2021.
As the pandemic has worsened, many houses of worship decided to forgo in-person religious services, opting instead to livestream them or hold outdoor services. Religious services, including choir practices and funerals, have been the cause of some COVID outbreaks in Georgia.
Some health experts hope to convince faith leaders to speak out more in favor of their members getting the vaccine to fight the coronavirus, which has been particularly hard on Black and Latino communities.
Recently, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, told The Washington Post that while some people believe drug companies use fresh fetal tissue from abortions, “that is absolutely not the case.”
“They do have a step along the way where they validate whether the vaccine is likely to work. In a lab-based experiment, they have used the same fetal cell lines from decades ago, just to check and see if the vaccine looks promising,” he said in the Post article. “If the cell line was used in actual production, that’s a bit more of an ethical concern for some.”
Other faith groups have weighed in as well.
The New York-based Orthodox Union, the nation’s oldest and largest umbrella organization for the North American Orthodox Jewish community, and the Rabbinical Council of America recently offered guidance to synagogues and the community about the COVID-19 vaccines.
The statement recognizes that the COVID-19 vaccines have been developed with unprecedented speed before applying for federal emergency use authorization.
Still, the conclusion of the leadership is that people follow the advice of their personal physicians, and that in order to preserve lives, to take the vaccine as soon as it becomes available to them.
“Everyone had justified concerns,” said Rabbi Moshe Hauer, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, which represents more than 400 congregations, including several in metro Atlanta. “This is record-breaking vaccine development, and everyone needs to be reassured that the proper safeguards were taken to ensure both the safety and efficacy of the vaccines. Our statement wasn’t created with the purpose of convincing the anti-vax community.”
Arthur Caplan, Mitty Professor of Bioethics at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, said such moves by the faith community are highly unusual when it comes to advocating for a vaccine.
“I think it’s good and I think it’s important,” said Caplan. “Some people will try to use religious reasons not to vaccinate. Followers need to hear that. It’s looking towards community and consideration towards your neighbor, and it’s important for religious groups to speak up.”
They are not medical professionals,” he said, “but they are role models. They are moral leaders and they are influential.”
In his statement, Hartmayer said that taking the COVID-19 vaccine “ought to be understood as an act of charity toward the other members of our community. In this way, being vaccinated safely against COVID-19 should be considered an act of love of our neighbor and part of our moral responsibility for the common good.”
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