Voices for Vaccines is reporting that it is responding to three claims about vaccines circulating in media and online, offering what it describes as the facts behind each.
On the claim that vaccines are made using organs taken from babies while they are still alive, made by lawyer Aaron Siri on the Tucker Carlson Show, the group said some vaccines use lab-grown cells descended from tissue collected in the 1960s. It said the cells are removed during vaccine production, and that the Vatican and other faith leaders support vaccination to protect people and communities.
Voices for Vaccines said a cell line is a group of cells grown in a lab over time, and that two cell lines used to make some vaccines, WI-38 and MRC-5, began with tissue from first-term abortions in the 1960s. It said the cells used today come from those earlier cells and that no new abortions are needed to supply them. It said "living cells" does not mean a fetus is still alive, noting some cells can survive for hours after a person dies. It said the lab-grown cells help grow viruses used in some vaccines and are then removed as the vaccine is purified, though tiny pieces of DNA can remain. It said these pieces are not whole cells or fetal tissue. The group said the Vatican said in 2005 it is acceptable for Catholics to receive certain vaccines when they help protect health, and in 2017 explained that protecting others through vaccination is an important moral responsibility. It said this is even more true in 2026, when five people have died from measles in Pennsylvania.
On the claim that flu shots make people more likely to get the flu, attributed to the McCullough Foundation citing a Cleveland Clinic study, Voices for Vaccines said the study is a preprint that has not completed peer review and has not been published more than a year later. It said vaccinated people were 27% more likely to get tested, which could make the vaccinated group appear to have more flu even if actual infection rates were similar. It said the study followed 53,402 employees, about 82% of them vaccinated, with 1,130 people, about 2%, having a recorded case of flu. It said earlier infections and vaccines may offer cross-protection, and that flu shots cannot cause the flu because they contain killed viruses or parts of a virus that cannot make copies of themselves.
On the claim by Sherri Tenpenny, made in an interview with Alex Jones, that every animal died during studies of COVID vaccines on animals, Voices for Vaccines said published studies show animal tests did take place and found the vaccines helped protect the animals. It said some animal studies took place while human trials were underway, and that the FDA reviewed evidence from vaccine testing before allowing emergency use. It said billions of people have since received COVID vaccines, which studies show lower the risk of severe illness and death, with serious side effects rare.