Discussions are underway in Christian circles
on whether one should take a COVID-19 vaccine. The concern centers on
association of the vaccines with tissue from aborted babies. Here is my opinion
as a pro-life medical professional. I am a family physician and member of Grace
Presbyterian Church PCA in Dalton, Georgia. My prior experience includes 24
years of active duty in the U.S. Army, 9 years of missionary work in Belize
with Mission to the World, and my present role as a traveling medical missionary
with Mission to the World. In past days, I was the board chairman for Crisis
Pregnancy Center in Augusta, Georgia. Presently I am the medical supervisor for
our local pro-life center, Women's Enrichment Center. Concerning vaccines and
the immune system, I spent a year at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
studying experimental design and immunology.
Before describing the COVID-19 vaccines that
are coming out, allow me to give a bit of biology lesson. Each of the billions
of cells in our bodies contain genetic instructions in the form of DNA. The
cells also contain a protein construction factory. The instructions for the
protein construction factory on how to build proteins and other components are
translated from DNA into another form called messenger RNA. Viruses such as
COVID-19 hijack the protein construction factory by inserting their own,
foreign RNA. The cells then busy themselves building new viruses, which break
out of the cells and infect other cells. Viruses cannot reproduce themselves without
invading normal cells.
The Lord has built into our bodies defenses
against the viruses. Viruses have an outer coating of proteins. Our immune
system can recognize these proteins as being foreign, and produce antibodies
which coat and inactivate the virus. In the case of COVID-19, there is a
protein called the spike protein that the virus uses to attach to our cells. We
develop immunity to COVID-19 by developing antibodies to the spike protein.
COVID-19, being very infectious and able to replicate quickly, is able to
overcome our immune system before it has a chance to make effective antibodies,
if we have never before been exposed to the virus.
There are three vaccines that have reached a
stage to be widely distributed in the near future. These three vaccines all
take a similar approach to teaching our immune systems how to make antibodies
against the spike protein. The vaccines contain a short segment of messenger
RNA which is specific for building only spike protein and nothing else
associated with the COVID-19 virus. Entering some cells, the messenger RNA
induces the cells to make copies of the spike protein. That protein is
recognized by the body as being foreign, inducing the production of antibodies
and giving us immunity. The messenger RNA does not make any alterations to
cellular DNA. Neither does the messenger RNA remain active for very long.
Two of the vaccines, which are the ones that
are on track for approval in the U.S., are almost identical in how they are
manufactured and work. The Pfiser and Moderna vaccines are made with
synthetically manufactured messenger RNA. This RNA is then coated with a
capsule of lipids (fat) that allows the messenger RNA to enter cells. This is
all done by synthetic machinery. There is nothing in the manufacturing process
that involves tissues of aborted fetuses.
The third vaccine under consideration is the
Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine. This vaccine uses a different approach. Messenger
RNA is inserted into the shell of a virus that causes colds in monkeys, but
does not make us sick. The virus shell then allows the messenger RNA to enter
our cells. Recall that viruses require the mechanisms of a living cell to
reproduce. To reproduce the monkey cold virus, a human cell line called HEK 293
is used. These cells originated from the kidney of a fetus aborted in the
1970's. These cells have been modified so that they can reproduce themselves
indefinitely, so that the cells used today are many generations away from the
aborted fetus. No cells from recently aborted fetuses are involved.
Fetus-derived cells are filtered out of the vaccine, so that no such cells
enter us when administered.
So, those who do not wish to have anything to
do with cells derived from aborted fetuses may wish to avoid the Oxford /
AstraZeneca vaccine, but can take the Pfiser or Moderna vaccines with no such
concern. It appears that the Pfiser and Moderna vaccines will be released first
in the U.S.
There are other reasons we as Christians
should seek out vaccination for COVID-19. I have heard a prediction that
450,000 Americans may die of COVID-19 by the end of February 2021. That is more
Americans who died in the four years of World War II. The only way we can
finally overcome COVID-19 is for enough of us to become immune so as to break
the chain of transmission of the virus. If we wait until the virus infects the
majority of us, millions would die. To be immunized and to develop immunity
means that we care not only for ourselves, but for all others who bear the
image of God.
Pregnant women who are infected by COVID-19
are at increased risk of severe complications and death, as are their unborn
babies. If we care for them, we also have reason to be immunized.
