Comprehensive foreign media reports, HEK293 cells can be traced back to the aborted fetus in the 1970s, when Dutch molecular biologist Alex van der Eb cultured fetal kidney cells in his laboratory, eventually generating a 293 cell line, which is commonly used in Life science research because of its high transfection efficiency and ease of Culture.
U.S. Catholic Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades 2 called on believers to administer Pfizer or Moderna vaccines whenever possible. He said, “If there is a choice between equally effective and safe new crown vaccines, the one not associated with abortion should be chosen.”
The U.S. Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a similar statement last week, calling the Johnson & Johnson vaccine unethical. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said that Catholics can administer the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, noting that the use of the product is “far removed from the sin of abortion.”
In response, Johnson & Johnson issued a statement emphasizing that they did not use HEK-293 cells and that the company’s single-dose New Crown vaccine uses a cold-like adenovirus as the vector. The vaccine was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use on Feb. 27.
In January, when the Vatican called on Catholics to get the Neocon vaccine, it said that administering a vaccine made from a cell line from an aborted fetus was “morally permissible” and that administering the vaccine “cannot be considered complicit in abortion.
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