Update: COVID-19 Vaccine Candidates and Abortion-Derived Cell Lines

Updated June 2, 2021

Accurate information about the development and production of COVID-19 vaccines is essential, especially because many proposed candidates use newer molecular technologies for production of a viral vaccine. One concern regarding the ethical assessment of viral vaccine candidates is the potential use of abortion-derived cell lines in the development, production or testing of a vaccine. This analysis utilizes data from the primary scientific literature when available, along with data from clinical trial documents, reputable vaccine tracking websites, and published commercial information.¹ It is the hope that by providing accurate data, recipients can make well-informed decisions regarding vaccine choices.

For additional background and guidance, please see:

* A Visual Aid to Viral Infection and Vaccine Production for a visual primer on the various strategies for viral vaccine production.

* COVID-19 Vaccines & Fetal Cell Lines for an infographic description of how fetal cell lines are sometimes used to produce vaccines.

Flow Chart for Creation and Testing of Vaccines

Design & Development: conceptualization, preparatory experiments, and specification for how vaccine will be constructed and produced.   Production: process used to manufacture final vaccine to be given to people.   Confirmatory Lab Tests on Product: tests to analyze quality, nucleic acid or protein sequence, protein conformation, antibody reactivity, etc. of final vaccine product.   Vaccination: giving final produced vaccine to people.

To view this chart as a PDF, see: COVID-19 Vaccine Candidates and Abortion-Derived Cell Lines

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