Why are Catholics saying the Johnson And Johnson COVID vaccine is bad?

Catholic guilt is 100% a thing, but Catholic guilt over your choice of vaccine is new? Because, well, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops don’t want people taking the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Instead, they encourage others to take Pfizer or Moderna over the single shot alternative. Why on Earth do the Catholics want to avoid this COVID vaccine? 

Here’s what you need to know about why bishops want Catholics to avoid the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine. Why are Pfizer or Moderna vaccines the acceptable alternatives? Can a vaccine be “morally compromised”? Here’s all you need to know before you dive into Catholic guilt over COVID vaccines.

Why do they want you to avoid the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine?

Simply put, it comes down to abortion. Oh boy. That’s a hot button topic that we won’t be getting too into, but the Catholic Church is not in favor of abortion. Johnson & Johnson, in developing their COVID vaccine, used cells derived from abortion in order to create their single-shot vaccine. Even though the vaccine is a good thing, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops consider it “morally compromised” to take it.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops follows a similar ruling from the Archdiocese of New Orleans. In a statement on Friday, the Archdiocese said, “The archdiocese must instruct Catholics that the latest vaccine from Janssen/Johnson & Johnson is morally compromised as it uses the abortion-derived cell line in development and production of the vaccine as well as the testing.”

While you think the Catholic Church would be united in this moral outrage, you would be wrong. 

What the Pope is saying about the COVID vaccine?

Let’s look to someone that outranks these bishops, the Vatican & Pope Francis. In Dec. 2020, they approved the use of vaccines “that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.” They added that it is “morally acceptable”. Currently, however, the Pope & the Vatican has not outright talked about the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine. 

Honestly, should there be a specific okay from the Pope for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine? If they said that it’s fine to use vaccines from aborted fetuses in research and production, then the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be covered under that okay from Dec. 2020. More to the point, beggars can’t be choosers when picking their COVID vaccine.

Take the COVID vaccine 

Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said on Meet the Press that you can’t cherry pick which vaccine you get. “If you go to a place and you have J&J, and that’s the one that’s available now, I would take it. I think people need to get vaccinated as quickly and as expeditiously as possible.” Dr. Fauci is right because vaccine sites don’t control what they get.

So if you object to a vaccine based on religious grounds, it’s well in your right to do so. But no one can guarantee if they’re getting a vaccine that will be approved on religious moral grounds. If Johnson & Johnson is the vaccine you have, then, yeah, take it to build that herd immunity. And if the guilt weighs on you for it, then go to confession and do what needs to be done to make it square with God, you know?

Again, the Vatican, which supersedes all other authorities, says that these COVID vaccines can be used in “good conscience” given the global pandemic that we are experiencing and the severity of it. The Catholic Church believes in a loving God who cares about His people. He would understand in the end, so take the vaccine, get that herd immunity, and let us figure out normal again.