In apparent challenge to the Vatican, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans urged its parishioners on Monday to avoid the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, calling it “morally compromised” due to connections with cells derived from aborted fetal tissue. .
The strong statement came just two days after the Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use permit for Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine, which public health officials praised because it requires only one dose and has no storage. heavy and cooled obstacles.
The “archdiocese should instruct Catholics that the latest Janssen / Johnson & Johnson vaccine is morally compromised, as it uses the abortion-derived cell line in vaccine development and production, as well as testing,” according to the archdiocese’s statement.
The vaccine formula, however, does not include fetal tissue, company officials said. Like many vaccine manufacturers, Johnson & Johnson uses cells originally derived from fetal tissue to manufacture the vaccine. These cells can be traced back to the 1980s and are commonly used in laboratories because they can replicate indefinitely, ensuring that they never run out.
The archdiocese’s stance appeared to be at odds with the Vatican, which earlier this year said it was “morally acceptable” for Roman Catholics to receive any Covid-19 vaccine, even one based on research that originally used cells derived from aborted fetuses.
In a statement on Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson said “there is no fetal tissue in our Janssen Covid-19 vaccine”.
“We are able to manufacture hundreds of millions of doses using our designed cell line system that allows for the rapid production of new viral vaccines to combat many of the most dangerous infectious diseases,” according to the company statement.
The statement from the Archdiocese of New Orleans offered only the slightest openness to followers seeking the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, saying that taking any of the Covid-19 protections remains a matter of “individual conscience in consultation with the health professional”.
“I have enormous respect for the archbishop of New Orleans,” Governor John Bel Edwards told reporters on Tuesday. “I would like to point out that I did not read your statement as telling people, Catholics or not, that they do not use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.”
Edwards, who is a Catholic, said he appreciates the moral issue raised by the archdiocese, but called on his fellow Louisiana residents to strive for the “common good”.
“You have to weigh this with the common good of ending a pandemic,” said Edwards. “And it is critical that we do this. The quickest way to do this is to use all the vaccines.”
Dr. David Doukas, president of humanities and ethics at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, downplayed the archdiocese’s guideline, saying that most Catholics will find that there is rarely a choice to choose a vaccine over another – and that they should take what is available.
“If you need it now and you have one in front of you now, what do you take? The one you have in front of you now,” Doukas told NBC News on Tuesday.
Bishop Michael G. Duca, of neighboring Baton Rouge, seemed to have a less strident tone, saying that if “you can only get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, you should feel free to do it for your safety and for the common good. “
Doukas, however, agreed that as vaccines become available in greater numbers, providers should be more transparent about which of the injections they are administering, saying: “Since many of the things we do in life are decisions based on faith, it would be prudent to at least let people know. “
Governor Edwards said he will work to create a system in which vaccine candidates will be informed whether their appointment will be to Johnson & Johnson, Moderna or Pfizer.
“We will ensure that individuals, when they make an appointment, know what type of vaccine will be administered at that appointment,” he said.
