Concise Answers To Some Christian’s Fears Of The Covid-19 Vaccine

The prevention and treatment of disease is biblical:

“A Christian worldview authorizes treatment—and we do so as an extension of the doctrine of creation and the dominion God has given to humanity as revealed in the opening chapter of Genesis. Pressing against disease and viruses is part of our mandate. Some might say, ‘I believe in the sovereignty of God, and if God wants me to have this virus then he will give me the virus. I don’t need medical intervention because I trust God.’

“That kind of logic, if pressed to its logical conclusion, however, is untenable—we wouldn’t treat any sickness, cancer, or injury. Medical treatment is an extension of God’s common grace and Christians have always understood this. That is why, throughout history, where you found Christians you found hospitals and the church treating the sick. Thus, it is not wrong for Christians to take measures to avoid getting sick or coming down with the virus. It is not wrong to take the vaccine against COVID-19.”

No fetal tissue was used in the creation of the Covid-19 vaccines:

“In most of the major COVID-19 vaccines, there was a use of fetal cell lines, which are known as HEK-293. The original cells for that line were taken from tissues derived from an abortion in the Netherlands in the 1960s. The cell line developed around 1972. There is also the HeLa line that goes back to 1951. These cells were taken from an African American woman, Henrietta Lacks, who suffered from terminal cancer. Cells were taken from her body without her consent or knowledge. This makes the use of cells from that line a complicated issue within medical ethics.

“How then ought Christians think about all of this? First of all, we must condemn in the strongest of terms the use of any tissues from aborted human babies. That is a nonnegotiable issue for Christians as we consider medical advances and treatments. There are, however, complexities involved as Christians contemplate these incredibly serious moral questions.

“Specifically, with the issue of the COVID-19 vaccine, Christians need to understand that no step in producing these vaccines had any direct involvement in an abortion of a single child. There is also the issue of proximity. The further you go in history, the harder it is to keep a clear line of culpability in morally significant events. That said, the good news about the COVID-19 vaccines is that even as these cells (most importantly from HEK-293) were used to create the basic shape of the vaccine, no fetal tissue was used.

“At the same time, however, the vaccine’s structure relied upon the cell line of HEK-293, which originated with an aborted fetus. This is a tragedy of history. A horrifying wrong was done—but that does not mean that good cannot come from that harm, even as it is a good tainted by the realities of a sinful world …… If the abortion of even a single human baby was required for this vaccine, or if abortion-derived materials were included in the vaccine, Christians would be rightly outraged. This is not the case. The vaccine can be taken by pro-life Christians with legitimacy.”

The Covid-19 vaccines have been proven to be both safe and effective, but there is never a 100% guarantee in medicine. The good of the vaccines outweigh the “bad” by an eternity, as we have surpassed 600,000 US deaths and millions more worldwide:

“Christians must consider deals with efficacy and safety of the vaccine. At this point, the medical community demonstrates enormous confidence in the vaccine. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration does not merely require that a vaccine prove to be safe—it must also prove to be effective. To be sure, some people, especially those who have a specific allergic pattern, might have to carefully consider whether they should take any vaccine. For most, however, the vaccine is both safe and effective. This is certainly not a closed question—when it comes to medical treatment, there are very few closed questions. With any serious sickness or disease, we often have to weight this treatment over that treatment; this surgery over this therapy. Nothing in a fallen world is ever easy. We must, under the circumstances, do that which appears to be the most right, the safest, and the most good.”

Jesus Christ’s command to love thy neighbor:

“There are third parties—people who cannot take the vaccine or do not yet have access to it that could still be infected by those who refuse to take the vaccine. The common good argument is extremely powerful in the Christian tradition. Indeed, it is the second greatest commandment listed by Jesus Christ: to love our neighbors as ourselves. The general principle of the common good comes down to benevolence, love, care for others, laying down personal priorities for the service of others. Christians thinking about the issue of the vaccine must weigh this key biblical principle as part of their thinking.” 

Source

Vaccines and the Christian Worldview: Principles for Christian Thinking in the Context of COVID      https://albertmohler.com/2020/12/14/vaccines-and-the-christian-worldview-principles-for-christian-thinking-in-the-context-of-covid

Further Reading

Christian Vaccination information and Recommendations https://cmda.org/article/vaccination-information-and-recommendations/

Evaluating information: what you should know https://media.chop.edu/data/files/pdfs/vaccine-education-center-evaluating-info-qa.pdf  

Anti-Vaxxers Misuse Federal Data to Falsely Claim COVID Vaccines Are Dangerous https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjpmp7/anti-vaxxers-misuse-federal-data-to-falsely-claim-covid-vaccines-are-dangerous

Conspiracies Grow As COVID Spreads https://centerforinquiry.org/blog/conspiracies-grow-as-covid-spreads/  

An incomplete list of COVID-19 quackery     https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/an-incomplete-list-of-covid-19-quackery/  

Red-Rated Sites With False Claims About The Coronavirus: 427 And Counting  https://www.newsguardtech.com/coronavirus-misinformation-tracking-center/

How to read coronavirus news and learn what you actually need to know about staying safe in the pandemic                https://theconversation.com/how-to-read-coronavirus-news-and-learn-what-you-actually-need-to-know-about-staying-safe-in-the-pandemic-144261  

Myth Busters: Dietary Supplements and COVID-19  https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1060028020928052  

Vaccine Refusal and Measles Outbreaks in the US  https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2769677

Red Alert: Anti-Vaccination in the Age of COVID-19  https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/red-alert-anti-vaccination-in-the-age-of-covid-19/  

Is the COVID-19 Vaccine Safe?  https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/is-the-covid19-vaccine-safe  

Selected Adverse Events Reported after COVID-19 Vaccination https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html

How Speaking Creates Droplets That May Spread COVID-19 https://physics.aps.org/articles/v13/157

Latest Coronavirus News - Articles Written by Scientists https://theconversation.com/us/covid-19

CDC COVID-19 Websites  https://www.cdc.gov/library/researchguides/2019novelcoronavirus/websites.html

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