Abstract

The NCBC recognizes an ethical hierarchy among COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccines that do not use abortion-derived cell lines in any phase of design, manufacture, or testing are the best ethical choice if they are reasonably available, safe, and effective. Vaccines that do not use abortion-derived cell lines in the manufacturing process but did use them at one point in development, such as for confirmatory testing, are preferable to those that utilize abortion-derived cell lines in more than one phase of development and, in particular, in the manufacturing process. Nonetheless, for grave reasons, people could decide in good conscience to accept vaccines that use abortion-derived cell lines in their development and production to protect their own lives and health and that of others in the absence of any satisfactory alternative. The use of an ethically problematic vaccine, however, may be done only “under protest.”