Catholics Should 'Get Whatever Vaccine Is Available': Archbishop

ATLANTA — Citing their responsibility to “vulnerable neighbors” during a pandemic, Atlanta’s archbishop on Wednesday urged “Catholics to get whatever vaccine is available to them.”

“I wish to reiterate and affirm my earlier statement in support of COVID-19 vaccines,” Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer said in a statement posted to The Georgia Bulletin’s website. “In keeping with a recent statement from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I urge Catholics to get whatever vaccine is available to them.”

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta covers north and middle Georgia.

Hartmayer’s statement isn’t exactly at odds with a statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who have expressed “moral concerns” over the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine because its development came from cells taken in the 1980s from aborted fetuses.

Some U.S. Catholic leaders interpreted those concerns as reason to condemn the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. In February, the archbishop of New Orleans deemed the Johnson & Johnson vaccine “morally compromised,” leading some Louisiana dioceses in the heavily Catholic state to follow suit and discourage its use.

Hartmayer’s statement takes a different tack, emphasizing the importance of getting a vaccination — any vaccination — to help end the COVID-19 pandemic as soon as possible.

“I have received both doses of a vaccine and have encouraged our priests to get theirs as soon as their age or risk group is able to do so,” Hartmayer said in his statement. “You should not delay getting your vaccine.”

Hartmayer didn’t identify which vaccine he received, but both the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines require two doses. The newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one dose.

Catholic guidance over which vaccine to take has generally tried to walk a fine line, balancing the need for vaccination against how central the use of aborted fetuses was in developing the vaccines.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were tested using cell lines derived from aborted fetuses, whereas the Johnson and Johnson vaccine itself is derived from cells from aborted fetuses, albeit thousands of generations removed. The vaccine itself does not contain cells from aborted fetuses.

“Our single-shot COVID-19 vaccine uses an inactivated non-infective adenovirus vector — similar to a cold virus — that codes for the coronavirus ‘spike’ (S) protein, and there is no fetal tissue in the vaccine,” Johnson & Johnson said in a statement to CNN.

Before the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was approved, the Roman Catholic church’s office of doctrine said "it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process."

The bishops’ statement takes a somewhat harder line, advising Catholics to take the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines if at all possible. Hartmayer’s statement concurs, saying that “when there is no choice, you may receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.”

But it also makes clear there are bigger issues at stake.

“Getting vaccinated is about more than just getting back to our churches. It is about protecting our vulnerable neighbors and supporting our communities as we recover from this devastating pandemic,” Hartmayer said in his statement. “So, please, wear a mask, keep your distance and get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you are eligible.”