Valley Mission Church of the Nazarene

110 Hillcrest Way, (in Judah) Bedford, Indiana  47421

Information received from Dr. Tim Crump, SWID District Superintendent

January 14, 2021 Email


COVID Vaccine (Information from Dr. Dan Spaite - a Nazarene Doctor and Professor)   Some DSs/pastors have heard that COVID vaccines are using abortion-derived human embryonic stem cells in their development and/or production.  If/when this is true, it would be an issue with our moral stand in Paragraph 30.3.

I thought it would be helpful to you to have some information about this issue (potentially for communication with the Church...since this WILL come up...and...for reasons described below...the counsel of the Church should not be driven by hearsay, rumor, or misunderstanding.  In the incredibly politicized COVID pandemic...there has been a huge amount of misinformation about essentially every issue and topic).

 1) USA...currently:
The two currently-authorized vaccines in the US (Pfizer and Moderna) did NOT use abortion-derived human embryonic stem cells in the development or production of the vaccines...and they create no ethical dilemma for their usage by conscientious Christians.

2) GLOBALLY:
Here's the nuance that is important for our pastors and people to know about.  Among the scores of vaccine candidates worldwide, only a handful are using abortion-derived stem cells as part of development and/or production.  And so...in my opinion...we should be INFORMED about which ones are ethical to receive...and consistent with our stated stand on these life-sanctity issues.  I really like the informative evaluation at the website (link below and attached).  It will help believers know which vaccines to avoid (when they are approved in various countries around the world).

https://lozierinstitute.org/an-ethics-assessment-of-covid-19-vaccine-programs/

3) An important nuance that may come up.
Once a drug (literally any medication) is developed and produced... many/most/close to all of them undergo myriads of studies (both in labs and in humans) for a host of different reasons.  Some of these POST-production studies may use abortion-derived stem cells.  This may/will occur with almost all drugs regardless of whether they were developed and produced using abortion-derived cells.  This does NOT create an ethical dilemma for those who receive an ethically-PRODUCED medication.  As an example: In the last several decades, many studies using penicillin have been done using abortion-derived cells.  This does not make the use of penicillin for strep throat ethically questionable since it's development, production, and the specified use were all accomplished apart from the use of any abortion-derived cells.  Thus, there are post-production studies that may be done that have nothing to do with a drug that is ethically produced...and...hence...do not create an ethical issue when it is used as developed and intended for treatment.