Vaccines and Aborted Fetal Cells

One of the most common questions I have received since vaccines were introduced to the COVID-19 pandemic comes in some version of the following: 

Do COVID-19 vaccines contain aborted fetal cells?

Is there fetal tissue in the COVID-19 vaccine?

Were babies aborted to make the COVID-19 vaccine?

In my experience, the vast majority of those asking these questions are simply trying to align their vaccine decision with their personal values and beliefs, of which vary from person to person. Unfortunately, such answers are not easy to find. The goal here is to provide a basic overview, a starting point, of information and resources to help you make informed decisions for yourself and your family.^a

Do vaccines use aborted fetal cells?

Most vaccines are developed or ‘grown’ with non-human cells, such as animals, insects, chicken eggs, or yeast. “For example,” the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia website notes, “no influenza [flu] vaccine available in the U.S. requires the use of fetal cells for production.”¹

Other vaccines do use fetal cells—cells of an unborn baby during the fetal period, about 8 weeks after fertilization of an egg by a sperm and the time of birth.² However, the cells used to develop and test vaccines are not fetal cells taken directly from an unborn baby. Rather, they are new cells that are descended from an original, aborted fetal cell—called fetal cell lines or abortion-derived cells.

HERE is an example image of this process.

For example, Dr. Paul Offit, MD of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia notes that several modern vaccines, such as for hepatitis A, chickenpox, rubella, and one rabies vaccine, are from cell lines derived originally from “two elective abortions that were performed in the early 1960s—one in Sweden, one in England.”²

What about the COVID-19 vaccine?

For the COVID-19 vaccine history, Dr. James Lawler, MD from the University of Nebraska Medicine notes:³

• Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine: HEK293 fetal cell line, “descended from tissue taken from a 1973 abortion that took place in the Netherlands.”
  • HEK stands for ‘human embryonic kidney,’ and were cells likely derived from an elective abortion, although the family history has been lost.⁴
• Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine: C6 fetal cell line, “descended from tissue taken from a 1985 abortion that took place in the Netherlands.”
  • PER stands for ‘primary embryonic retinoblast’ (retina cells of the eye), also known as HER or ‘human embryonic retinoblast,’ and were cells derived from an elective abortion.^4,5

For more detail, THIS TABLE (with references) shows if abortion-derived cells were used across vaccine development phases: (1) design and development, (2) production, (3) or confirmatory lab tests.⁶

Here is an abbreviated version for the COVID-19 vaccines.

Other Resources

• ‘Q&A: DNA, Fetal Cells, & Vaccines’ pdf (2022) from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Vaccine Education Center
• Animal Products in Vaccines. Well Church Insights

References 

1. https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/fetus
2. https://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-ingredients/fetal-tissues
3. https://www.nebraskamed.com/COVID/you-asked-we-answered-do-the-covid-19-vaccines-contain-aborted-fetal-cells
4. Wong, A. (2006). The ethics of HEK 293.The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly,6(3), 473-495.
5. Fallaux, F. J., Kranenburg, O., Cramer, S. J., Houweling, A., van Ormondt, H., Hoeben, R. C., & van der Eb, A. J. (1996). Characterization of 911: A new helper cell line for the titration and propagation of early region 1-deleted adenoviral vectors.Human Gene Therapy,7(2), 215-222.
6. https://s27589.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/COVID-19-Vaccine-Candidates-and-Abortion-Derived-Cell-Lines.pdf

^aDisclaimer: These links and resources are provided for informational purposes only. They do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the Well Church Initiative and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual. Please consult an appropriate healthcare provider for specific advice on vaccines tailored to your situation.