Use of fetal tissue in vaccine development

Immortalised cell lines are an important research tool offering a stable medium for experiments. These are derived either from tumors, which have developed resistance to cellular senescence, or from stem cells originally taken from aborted fetuses.{{Cite journal|last2=Matin|first2=M. M.|last3=Bahrami|first3=A. R.|last4=Ghasroldasht|first4=M. M.|year=2013|title=Immortality of cell lines: Challenges and advantages of establishment|journal=Cell Biology International|volume=37|issue=10|pages=1038–45|doi=10.1002/cbin.10137|pmid=23723166|last1=Irfan Maqsood|first1=M.|s2cid=14777249}} Fetal cell lines have been used in the manufacture of vaccines since 1930s. One of the first medical applications of cell lines derived from fetal tissues was their use in the production of the first polio vaccines. For example, in the 1950s, scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden propagated a polio virus in fetal cell lines to make into a polio vaccine. The resulting vaccine was given to about 2,000 children.{{Cite web |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/fact-checking-congress-s-fetal-tissue-report |title=Fact-checking Congress's fetal tissue report |last=Wadman |first=Meredith |date=January 5, 2017 |website=Science |language=en |access-date=January 26, 2018}}

Many other vaccines, including those for chicken pox and rubella, are made using cell lines originally derived from fetal tissue from two pregnancies terminated in the 1960s, for reasons unrelated to vaccine development.{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/17/health/fetal-tissue-explainer/index.html |title=How exactly fetal tissue is used for medicine |last=Storrs |first=Carina |date=July 17, 2015 |website=CNN |access-date=January 26, 2018}}{{Cite journal |last=Charo |first=R. Alta |title=Fetal Tissue Fallout |date=August 12, 2015 |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |volume=373 |issue=10 |pages=890–891 |doi=10.1056/nejmp1510279|pmid=26267448 |s2cid=205112031 }}{{Cite web |url=http://vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/vaccine-ingredients |title=Vaccine ingredients | website=vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk |access-date=February 5, 2019}} Descendants of the fibroblast cells from these fetuses have been growing in labs ever since, as the WI-38 and MRC-5 cell lines. They are still used to grow vaccine viruses today.{{Cite web |url=http://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-ingredients/fetal-tissues |title=Vaccine Ingredients – Fetal Tissues |work=The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia |date=November 6, 2014 |language=en |access-date=January 26, 2018}} As of March 2017, billions of vaccines have been given that were made using the WI-38 line alone.{{Cite web|last=Gorvett|first=Zaria|title=The controversial cells that saved 10 million lives|url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201103-the-controversial-cells-that-saved-10-million-lives|access-date=August 21, 2021|website=www.bbc.com|language=en}}

Vaccines that have been or are made using cell lines originally derived from fetal tissue include:

• Adenovirus{{Cite journal |title=Medical research: Cell division |last=Wadman |first=Meredith |date=June 27, 2013 |journal=Nature |volume=498 |issue=7455 |pages=422–426 |language=en |doi=10.1038/498422a |pmid=23803825 |bibcode=2013Natur.498..422W |doi-access=free }}
• Chicken pox
• Ebola{{Cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/medical-researchers-say-fetal-tissue-remains-essential |title=Scientists say fetal tissue remains essential for vaccines and developing treatments |last=Binkley |first=Collin |date=August 11, 2015 |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-US |access-date=January 26, 2018}}
• Polio
• Rabies
• Rubella
• Shingles

Of these, the vaccines approved for use in the United States include some of those against rabies (Imovax), rubella, chicken pox, shingles, and adenovirus (as of January 2017).

One historical cell line used in rubella vaccines was originally obtained from a fetus aborted due to infection with rubella.{{Cite web|url=https://www.immune.org.nz/sites/default/files/resources/Written%20Resources/ConcernIngredientsAnimalImac20200707V01Final.pdf|title=Animal derived products and National Immunisation Schedule vaccines - updated August 2017|date=September 19, 2016|website=Immunisation Advisory Centre|language=en|access-date=December 8, 2020|archive-date=January 31, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131225932/https://www.immune.org.nz/sites/default/files/resources/Written%20Resources/ConcernIngredientsAnimalImac20200707V01Final.pdf|url-status=dead}} Rubella during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage (spontaneous abortion), and if it does not, there is a risk of severe disability due to congenital rubella syndrome.{{Cite web |url=http://vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/rubella |title=Rubella (German Measles) |date=February 5, 2019 |website=vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk |access-date=February 5, 2019}} By one estimate, rubella vaccination may prevent up to 5,000 miscarriages per year in the United States.

Several of the vaccines in use or advanced development for COVID-19 use the cell lines HEK-293 or PER.C6 for production. In other cases, notably the vaccines made by Pfizer, Sputnik-V and Moderna, HEK-293 was used during the testing phase.{{cite web|title=How fetal cells from the 1970s power medical innovation today|last=Couronne|first=Ivan|url=https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-10-fetal-cells-1970s-power-medical.html|website=Medical Xpress|date=October 20, 2020|access-date=January 5, 2021}}{{Cite web|title=The Gamaleya Center statement|url=https://sputnikvaccine.com/newsroom/pressreleases/the-gamaleya-center-statement/|access-date=August 21, 2021|website=sputnikvaccine.com|language=en}} PER.C6, a retinal cell line that was isolated from an aborted fetus in 1985 was used by Janssen in development of COVID-19 Vaccine.{{Cite web|title=You asked, we answered: Do the COVID-19 vaccines contain aborted fetal cells?|url=https://www.nebraskamed.com/COVID/you-asked-we-answered-do-the-covid-19-vaccines-contain-aborted-fetal-cells|access-date=August 21, 2021|website=www.nebraskamed.com|date=August 18, 2021 |language=en}}Immunize Nevada: [https://www.immunizenevada.org/sites/default/files/2021-03/Janssen%20Fetal%20Cell%20Fact%20Sheet_v2.3.pdf COVID-19 Vaccines & Fetal Cell Line History]

COS-1 cells are of monkey origin and there are xenogeneic differences between monkey and human proteins.{{Cite journal|title=Use of Aborted Fetal Tissue in Vaccines and Medical Research Obscures the Value of All Human Life|journal=The Linacre Quarterly|volume=85|issue=1|pages=13–17|doi=10.1177/0024363918761715|pmid=29970932|pmc=6027112|year=2018|last1=McKenna|first1=Kyle Christopher}}

The Catholic Church is opposed to abortion. Nevertheless, the Pontifical Academy for Life, concluded in 2005 that parents may allow their children to receive vaccines made from fetal tissue if no alternative exists and there is a grave health risk. Consumers were urged to "oppose by all means (in writing, through the various associations, mass media, etc.) the vaccines which do not yet have morally acceptable alternatives, creating pressure so that alternative vaccines are prepared, which are not connected with the abortion of a human fetus". This academy also called for the development of new vaccines that can be made by other means. In 2017, the Pontifical Academy for Life stated that "clinically recommended vaccinations can be used with a clear conscience and that the use of such vaccines does not signify some sort of cooperation with voluntary abortion".{{Cite web|title=Note on Italian vaccine issue|url=http://www.academyforlife.va/content/pav/en/the-academy/activity-academy/note-vaccini.html|access-date=August 21, 2021|website=www.academyforlife.va|language=en}}

On December 21, 2020, the Vatican's doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, further clarified that it is "morally {{linktext|licit}}" for Catholics to receive vaccines derived from fetal cell lines or in which such lines were used in testing or development, including the COVID-19 vaccines, because "passive material cooperation in the procured abortion from which these cell lines originate is, on the part of those making use of the resulting vaccines, remote. The moral duty to avoid such passive material cooperation is not obligatory if there is a grave danger," such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that "in such a case, all vaccinations recognized as clinically safe and effective can be used in good conscience" and "does not and should not in any way imply that there is a moral endorsement of the use of cell lines proceeding from aborted fetuses".{{cite journal |author1=Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith |title=Note of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the morality of using some anti-Covid-19 vaccines, 21.12.2020 |journal=Summary of Bulletin, Holy See Press Office |date=December 21, 2020 |url=https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2020/12/21/201221c.html |publisher=Holy See}} Moreover,

:[F]rom the ethical point of view, the morality of vaccination depends not only on the duty to protect one's own health, but also on the duty to pursue the common good. In the absence of other means to stop or even prevent the epidemic, the common good may recommend vaccination, especially to protect the weakest and most exposed. Those who, however, for reasons of conscience, refuse vaccines produced with cell lines from aborted fetuses, must do their utmost to avoid, by other prophylactic means and appropriate behavior, becoming vehicles for the transmission of the infectious agent. In particular, they must avoid any risk to the health of those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons, and who are the most vulnerable.

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