Reader asks: Vaccines and fetal cell lines

Question I received:

I am one of the pro-life people who believe had the two aborted fetus cells not been used, we would not have the current Covid 19 Vaccine with no alternative. This all began when abortion was legalized. Scientists used to be able to find vaccines without the aborted fetuses. Why can’t they find an alternative?

You mentioned there were vaccines that do not require cells at all. Is this for the Covid Vaccine. I would be interested in that.

Before answering the specific question about which vaccines do or do not use fetal cells lines, and to what degree, I’ll point out that the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has addressed the issue of vaccine ethics in the context of fetal cell lines here and elsewhere. In their words:

“all vaccinations recognized as clinically safe and effective can be used in good conscience with the certain knowledge that the use of such vaccines does not constitute formal cooperation with the abortion from which the cells used in production of the vaccines derive. It should be emphasized that the morally licit use of these types of vaccines, in the particular conditions that make it so, does not in itself constitute a legitimation, even indirect, of the practice of abortion, and necessarily assumes the opposition to this practice by those who make use of these vaccines.”

Pope Francis has also issued an appeal to everyone to get vaccinated as an “act of love” here. But I understand that some Catholics do not think Francis is pro-life “enough.”

My response is on the science of why this reader might prefer an mRNA vaccine over a viral vector type of vaccine.

Dear {Reader},

Thank you for reading my work, and for trusting me with your question.

In the US and around the world, vaccines against the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 put a protein from the surface of the virus–called the “spike protein”–into the human body. This allows our immune system to learn in advance what the virus looks like, and prepare a defense against it, without the risk of disease from the whole, dangerous, live virus.

But a wide variety of strategies are being used to do this. I could go on for a long time describing the molecular details of the main strategies, but you are specifically asking about connections to aborted fetal cells, so I will focus on that.

Key science point:

Historically, vaccines against viruses have consisted of some version of the virus that has been killed or rendered harmless. No virus can reproduce on its own. Viruses MUST infect some kind of cell in order to make more viruses. This includes the versions used in vaccines. Therefore, vaccines have historically been manufactured in living organisms (for example, chick embryos or live monkeys). More recently, scientists have developed “cell lines” that can grow viruses in a tank in a laboratory or factory. This is much safer, cheaper, and more ethical than using live animals.

What is a cell line?

It’s similar to sourdough starter, or other bread yeast. You start with a few cells, and just keep propagating them by providing food in a proper environment.

What kind of cell lines?

Different kinds have been used in vaccine production, including cells originally derived from monkeys, from other animals, from humans, and from human fetuses.

Why use cell lines that began with cells taken from an aborted fetus?

Because in many cases, it’s the only way to manufacture a large quantity of a human-virus vaccine. Some human virus vaccines simply do not grow well in non-human cells, or cell lines derived from adult human cells.

Important distinction: A “fetal cell line” is different from “fetal cells.” Fetal cells come from a fetus. Fetal cell lines are vast numbers of descendants of a small number of cells that came directly from a baby. No vaccine contains fetal cells.

COVID VACCINE THAT IS MANUFACTURED IN A FETAL CELL LINE:

Johnson & Johnson’s COVID vaccine contains a harmless virus with the COVID spike protein added to it. Because it is a whole virus, it has to be manufactured by cells. The cell line (PER.C6) was started from retinal (eye) tissue taken from a single human fetus aborted in the Netherlands in 1985.

Fortunately, brand-new vaccine technologies exist which do not rely on growing vaccine in human fetal cell lines.

VACCINES THAT ARE NOT MANUFACTURED USING FETAL CELLS:

• mRNA vaccines do not have any virus in them at all. They only contain the chemical instructions telling your body how to make a bit of the spike protein. Your own body does the work that for other vaccines is done by fetal cell lines.
• mRNA vaccines approved for use in the US are the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. These vaccines require 2 doses to be effective, so you can easily tell whether you’re getting one of these vaccines (the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is currently being given as a single shot)

The only connection between the mRNA vaccines and abortion is very tenuous. During design/development of the vaccines, limited laboratory tests were done to see whether human cells could take in the mRNA and use it to manufacture the spike protein. This was proof of concept that the new vaccine would have a good chance of working. Some of this laboratory testing was done using fetal cell lines. But the scope would have been very small, and not repeated after initial development. No fetal cell lines are used to manufacture the vaccines.

The Charlotte Lozier Institute, a prolife research and advocacy organization, considers these “ethical CoV-19 vaccine programs.” https://s27589.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/An-Ethics-Assessment-of-COVID-19-Vaccine-Programs_On-Point-46.pdf

ANOTHER OPTION COMING SOON:

In addition, a third, totally different vaccine technology is nearing US approval. You can’t get this vaccine yet, but it might be used for booster shots in the future. The Novavax vaccine is an injection of the spike protein itself (no virus). The protein is manufactured using an insect-derived cell line. Like the mRNA vaccines, limited testing of the vaccine during development may have involved use of a fetal cell line, but the vaccine itself has nothing to do with fetal cell lines.

Fortunately today in the US, you probably have a choice of which vaccine to take. Choose one of the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna).

I hope this helps. Feel free to follow up with any other questions.

Blessings,

Amy Rogers

This is a helpful reference written mostly for nonscientists http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/coronavirus/docs/vaccine/VaccineDevelopment_FetalCellLines.pdf

Also:

https://s27589.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/COVID-19-Vaccine-Candidates-and-Abortion-Derived-Cell-Lines.pdf

Amy Rogers, MD, PhD, is a Harvard-educated scientist, novelist, journalist, and educator. Learn more about Amy’s science thriller novels, or download a free ebook on the scientific backstory of SARS-CoV-2 and emerging infections, at AmyRogers.com.