Some U.S. bishops discourage Catholics from accepting the vaccination of Johnson & Johnson if others are available

Some U.S. bishops discourage Catholics from accepting the vaccination of Johnson & Johnson if others are available

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The vaccine is the third approved for use in the United States. Unlike its predecessors – from Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna – the Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one shot and can be kept at normal refrigerator temperatures, making it easy to transport.

Health experts have warned that Americans should get the vaccine they are offered.

“When people are offered the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, they should not say, ‘I do not want it,'” he said. Paul Goepfert, director of the Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic, said last month. “We are not in a scenario where we can pick and choose vaccines.”

Prior to the U.S. Emergency Use Authorization for the Johnson & Johnson Vaccine, the Roman Catholic Church Teaching Office – the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – stated that ‘it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have been used cell lines of aborted fetuses in their research and production process. ”
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The new declaration of the conference of bishops contradicts a note approved by Pope Francis, who received a vaccine in January. The December note said that ‘the use of such vaccines does not involve formal collaboration with the abortion from which the cells used for the production of the vaccines.’

In a statement to CNN, Johnson and Johnson said: “We are proud to bring our COVID-19 vaccine to the world and to contribute to ending this pandemic. Our single-shot COVID-19 vaccine uses an inactivated non-infectious adenovirus vector – – similar to a cold virus – that encodes the coronavirus “spike” (S) protein, and there is no fetal tissue in the vaccine.

“We are able to manufacture hundreds of millions of doses using our designed cell line system and look forward to delivering the doses around the world and meeting the critical need.”

The White House on Wednesday pushed back on the statement of the conference of bishops.

A government official pointed to CNN’s December Vatican statement, adding that the government in Biden was also “addressing hesitation and working with local messengers to address it, including with religious leaders”.

President Joe Biden is a practicing Catholic.

Make a vaccine with cells derived from fetal tissue

Vaccine makers sometimes use fetal cell lines when developing a vaccine.
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Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna used cell lines derived from fetal tissue to test their vaccines, while being used in Johnson & Johnson’s ‘development, confirmation and production’, according to dr. James Lawler, an infectious disease expert at Nebraska Medicine.

The cells are thousands of generations removed from the original fetal tissue, Lawler said.

Along with the use of cells, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is made different from the other two authorized vaccines.

The company has developed an adenovirus vector vaccine, in which the adenovirus – adapted to not cause disease – carries genetic material with a coronavirus protein in the body so that the person’s cells can make the protein themselves. and can activate their immune system. against the virus, Lawler said.

“Johnson & Johnson used the fetal cell line that did this because it is a well-studied standard for the safe and reliable production of viral vector vaccines,” Lawler said.

Ohio State University clinic manager Paige Blankenship, left, administers one of the first vaccines for Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 on Tuesday.

What bishops say about the vaccine

But now, statements by U.S. bishops are encouraging Catholics to accept, if possible, the Pfizer / BioNTec or Moderna option.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans called the Johnson & Johnson vaccine “morally affected” in a statement last week, and the dioceses of Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Burlington, Vermont, released statements expressing concern about the shot.

Bishop Michael Duca of the Diocese of Baton Rouge issued a statement saying, “If you can only receive the vaccine from Johnson and Johnson, you can do so for your own safety and well-being.”

The statement, which was reflected in Burlington, further said that the decision to receive the vaccine was between an individual conscience and their healthcare provider, but that the church’s position in no way diminished the misconduct of those who decided to use it. not. cell lines of abortions to make vaccines. “

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While Pfizer and Modern vaccines should be preferred over Johnson and Johnson’s, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement Tuesday that it is “morally acceptable” to receive vaccines when “ethically irrevocable” options are not available.

“Given the worldwide suffering caused by this pandemic, we reaffirm that vaccination can be a charitable act that serves the common good,” the statement said.

The statement was an update of one issued in December, reflecting the Vatican’s statement saying that Pfizer and Modern vaccines are morally acceptable, despite their ‘external link to morally compromised cells’ due to the severity of the pandemic. .

What health experts say

Many health experts encourage those who have the Johnson & Johnson vaccine available to take it.

“My advice to all my patients and all my friends is to get the first vaccine you can get. This is what matters most – to be protected,” said Dr. Jeff Carson, pastor at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences of Rutgers, said. University of New Jersey.

Fauci: 'I will take any vaccine available'
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading expert on infectious diseases raised as a Catholic, urged Americans on Sunday to take one of the three “extremely effective” coronavirus vaccines currently available and not the one vaccine above the to delay others.

Americans are generally not offered a choice on which vaccine to get, although it may change in some places as supply increases.

With the Modern and Pfizer vaccinations, some sites offer the vaccine they have most of the day. The offer changes from week to week.

And while Pfizer and Moderna options have an efficiency of about 95% compared to the 72% of Johnson & Johnson in the US, experts believe that this is not the inferior option.

They say the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is an effective vaccine that provides good protection against severe forms of Covid-19. Anyone should take it if given the opportunity. The effectiveness of the vaccine rises to 86% against severe forms of the disease.

“If we can stop people from dying completely or being hospitalized with Covid, we no longer have a problem,” Goepfert said.

CNN’s Dakin Andone and Jen Christensen contributed to this report.

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