Does the covid-19 variant require a new vaccine?
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(CNN) -
Being vaccinated against COVID-19 is morally acceptable, the Vatican said, after some anti-abortion groups raised concerns about how vaccines are made.
Some groups had suggested that coronavirus vaccines were made using cells from aborted fetuses.
In reality, cells are designed and grown in laboratories from tissue acquired many decades ago and are not manufactured directly from aborted fetuses.
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"Morally permitted," says the Vatican
The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said Monday, in a note approved by Pope Francis, that receiving the injection was morally permissible.
"It is morally acceptable to receive vaccines against covid-19 that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process," the note said.
The statement was issued and signed by the head of the Congregation in response to several requests for guidelines on the use of the vaccine.
There have been some disagreements within the clergy regarding the ethics of receiving a Covid-19 vaccine because tissue recovered from two abortions that took place in the last century had been used.
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Vaccine concerns
The abortion connection, which had prompted several bishops to voice their opposition to the vaccine, has now been rejected by the Vatican and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops had already issued a statement earlier in the month stating that the use of COVID-19 vaccines is morally justified.
Given the urgency of this crisis, the lack of alternative vaccines available, and the fact that the connection between an abortion that occurred decades ago and receiving a vaccine produced today is remote, the inoculation with the new vaccines against covid-19 in these circumstances may be morally justified. '
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The statement adds that receiving the vaccines does not indicate cooperation with abortion and that should not be seen as endorsement in any way.
"The lawful use of such vaccines does not imply or should in any way imply that there is moral support for the use of cell lines from aborted fetuses."
Equitable distribution
The Vatican statement is intended to address the moral issues surrounding the vaccine and not to judge its safety or efficacy.
The statement also calls on governments, pharmaceutical companies and international organizations to pay special attention to equitable distribution of the vaccine to the poorest countries.
“There is also a moral imperative for the pharmaceutical industry, governments and international organizations to ensure that vaccines, which are medically safe and effective, as well as ethically acceptable, and are also accessible to the poorest countries of the world. in a way that is not costly for them, ”he said.
The Vatican vaccine against covid-19