You are here

Immunize BC

Do COVID-19 vaccines contain fetal cells? Were abortions performed to make the vaccines?

Question: 

Do COVID-19 vaccines contain fetal cells? Were abortions performed to make the vaccines?

Answer: 
Vaccines do not contain fetal cells, and no abortions are performed to make vaccines. This includes COVID-19 vaccines. 
 
Some vaccines are made by growing the vaccine viruses in human fetal cell lines. However, the vaccines themselves do not contain fetal cells or tissue. The purification process removes nearly all the cell components so that only trace amounts of DNA and protein may be present in the vaccine. 
 
Fetal cell lines are used to test and develop many common over-the-counter and prescribed medications, including antacids and cold medications.
 
Are COVID-19 vaccines made using fetal cell lines?
 
  • Fetal cell lines were used to make the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine and the AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria) vaccine. However, the vaccines themselves do not contain fetal cells or tissue. The purification process removes nearly all the cell components so that only trace amounts of DNA and protein may be present in the vaccine. 
  • Fetal cell lines were not used to make the Moderna (Spikevax) and Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty) COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. However, the cell lines were used in the very early stages of research and development of these vaccines to test 'proof of concept’ (to test that the vaccines could work).
What fetal cell lines are used? 
 
  • The AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria) vaccine uses the HEK 293 fetal cell line, and the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine uses the PER.C6 fetal cell line. However, the vaccines themselves do not contain fetal cells or tissue. The purification process removes nearly all the cell components so that only trace amounts of DNA and protein may be present in the vaccine. 
  • The Moderna (Spikevax) and Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty) COVID-19 vaccines used the fetal cell line HEK 293 in the very early stages of research and development. It was not used to make these vaccines. 
  • The HEK 293 and PER.C6 fetal cell lines descend from cells taken from fetuses aborted in the 1970s and 1980s. The fetuses were not aborted to make vaccines.
Why are fetal cell lines used?
 

Fetal cell lines are used with some vaccines because viruses need to be grown in cells and human cells are often better than animal cells at supporting the growth of human viruses. 

Vaccine manufacturers may use these fetal cell lines during the following two phases:  
 
  • Research and development 
  • Production and manufacturing  
Fetal cell lines are used in scientific and medical research and in the research and development of most medical products available today.
 
What are fetal cell lines?
 
Fetal cell lines are cells that are grown in a laboratory. They descend from cells taken from fetuses aborted in the 1970s and 1980s that have since multiplied into many new cells over the past four or five decades, creating the fetal cell lines. The fetuses were not aborted to make vaccines. Current fetal cell lines are thousands of generations removed from the original fetal tissue. They do not contain any tissue from a fetus. 
 

What does the Catholic church say about the use of fetal cell lines in vaccines?

The Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life declared in 2005 and reaffirmed in 2017 that in the absence of alternatives, Catholics could, in good conscience, receive vaccines made using historical human fetal cell lines. In December 2020, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith provided a note on the morality of using some anti-Covid-19 vaccines.
 
Date last reviewed: 
Monday, Mar 20, 2023