Novavax claims that no human fetal-derived cell lines or tissue were used in the development, manufacture, or production of the COVID-19 shot, which means the company’s version of a vaccine is being touted as an acceptable option for service members who have sought religious exemptions from the mandatory vaccine.
To date, nearly 200 service members have rolled up a sleeve for the Novavax vaccine after they traveled overseas to get it. That is because the shot has not been authorized by the FDA but the World Health Organization has approved it for emergency use.
Mat Staver, who leads Liberty Counsel, tells AFN that Novavax's own published study disputes the claim because an aborted fetal cell line was, in fact, used in the testing phase of Novavax.
“If you read the actual Novavax statement,” he allows, “they say that no human fetal cell was used in the development of the Novavax.”
What is left unsaid, he goes on, is that aborted fetal cells were used during testing, which he insists puts Novavax alongside other COVID-19 shots developed by Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson.
In a separate interview with AFN, attorney Mike Berry of First Liberty Institute was unaware of Staver’s accusations of the testing phase but observed that many of his military clients would not be satisfied anyway.
“I think, just based on my own observation, that the majority of people who object to the COVID vaccine on religious grounds,” he says, “the fact that there is a new vaccine available doesn’t resolve their religious objections.”
According to Staver, by now U.S. service members know about the health risks of a COVID-19 shot, such as myocarditis. So it’s unfortunate to see the Novavax being “trumpeted” as a solution, he says.
