The Covid-19 vaccine comes to the convent

Soon our community will be getting a first dose of the vaccine against Covid-19. Massachusetts has opened access to persons over age 75 and those in "congregate housing" which puts us (with almost 80 members, some of them severely immunocompromised) in line. So it won't be long before I, like Pope Francis and Pope-Emeritus Benedict, will be rolling up my sleeve. 

It's not that I'm oblivious to potential side effects for a vaccine that has not yet had long-term evaluation. (Short-term, things look pretty good after 40 million doses.) I am preparing myself spiritually by drafting a big list of special intentions for which to offer up any side-effects, big or small, that may arise. The good thing about this is that even if I get nothing more than a needle-ache, the intentions will all be covered with enormous grace because I will have associated this as an open-ended offering in union with the sacrifice of Jesus! Please feel free to include your own special intentions for me in the comments. (If you want everyone to join in praying for them, leave them for me to post; if you only want me to know about them, add to your comment "for your eyes only" and I will simply not approve the comment and will delete it without posting it once I have put it in my prayers.)

There's also the matter of how the vaccines were tested in the lab before being distributed. The two vaccines currently approved for emergency use in the US were tested (not created)  using cells derived from an abortion some 50 years ago (though it is not known whether this was a "procured" abortion or a miscarriage; the medical term is the same). While I'm actually relieved to be receiving a vaccine that is only tangentially related to that ethically dubious cell line, there are many people whose consciences are tortured by the connection. 

"The whole world is under the power of the evil one," St John wrote to the first Christians (1 Jn 5:19). We have to make our way through a minefield in modern society. It is not like we can avoid being "contaminated" by tainted processes; they are embedded in our social structures and in just about every product on our shelves, but that doesn't mean we have to collaborate in creating them. (Thankfully, several vaccines in the pipeline are being developed without any connection whatever to unethically derived cells of any kind, but they are still in fairly early stages of testing.)

This is not the first time Catholics have had to make their way through moral challenges, but we have a strong tradition to guide us, and a clear message from the Holy Father (both in word and example). 

My sisters and I have researched the development of the various vaccines, particularly the two that are currently being distributed in the US, and looked up trustworthy moral theology recommendations, as well. I hope the linked article on ethical questions and guidance from Catholic moral theology with regard to the Covid-19 vaccines will be helpful to you and those you care about: "Should I Get the Covid-19 Vaccine?" Moral Guidelines