NIH director Dr. Francis Collins urges Christians to look for truth about COVID-19 vaccines, not conspiracy theories and misinformation

Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, urges anyone questioning whether they should take a COVID-19 vaccine to evaluate all of the available evidence. 

While speaking Thursday with a top Southern Baptist leader, Collins encouraged  Christians to seek out the truth about the vaccines awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration instead of the misinformation and conspiracy theories being spread out of fear and anxiety. Collins pointed to a Bible verse in Philippians 4 for guidance. 

“‘Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things,’” Collins said. “That would apply really well right here. So whatever is true.”    

Amid a surge in coronavirus cases and promising vaccine developments, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission hosted Collins, who leads the country’s medical research agency, for an online discussion.

Russell Moore, the director of the conservative evangelical denomination’s public policy arm, quizzed Collins on what Christians need to know about the vaccines. Collins, a geneticist who also led research on the human genome, is a Christian too and in a book club with Moore.   

“It won’t happen overnight, but the good news is that help is on the way,” Collins said.  

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If approved, COVID-19 immunizations could result in a return to a more normal way life in the U.S., possibly as early as Fall 2021, Collins said. But Americans will need to be willing to accept the vaccines, he said. 

The willingness to take a coronavirus vaccine has dropped among U.S. adults, according to Pew Research Center surveys. In May, 72% said they would probably or definitely get a COVID-19 vaccine if it was available to them today; the number declined to 51% in September, but rose to 60% in November. 

Transparency, evidence and answers

Collins has made transparency about the vaccines a priority. On Thursday, he gave a brief overview of how the vaccines work. 

“I’m a scientist. I want to be absolutely clear this is a new approach, but from everything we know and there’s no reason to think that these should be any more or less safe than the vaccines that are designed in other ways,” Collins said. 

He pointed to the upcoming public hearings for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines as a good source for information and available data. These vaccines are closest to approval.  

Collins urged Christians to look for answers if they have questions about the role material derived from abortions played in vaccine development. He pointed to the Catholic Church’s recent assessment of the matter as one place to look.  

Collins said there is no new fetal tissue used in any of the COVID-19 vaccines in production. However, a cell line derived in 1972 from a pregnancy termination was used in the preparation of the Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines, but it was not used in the production of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, Collins said. He added that the cell line is sometimes used in lab experiments to assess if something is working as expected. 

The vaccines were developed on an unprecedented timetable, Collins said. While they found ways to eliminate deadtime in the typically long process, they did not cut corners on efficacy and safety standards, he said. 

“If the FDA and their conclusions in just a couple of weeks, say these are safe and effective, that’s because the data says they are safe and effective,” Collins said. 

“I hope that will be more important in people’s view than a lot of the rumors that have been flying around some of which have unfortunately been made worse by political considerations and timetables that were based on elections as opposed to science. We will not let those things get in the way. This has got to be done right.”

Assessing vaccine risk and saving lives

Collins said there is some risk with all medical treatment. He pointed out that chemotherapy can make a cancer patient sick, but it also can cure their life-threatening illness. 

“For us to insist that a vaccine has to be 100% free of any possible risk wouldn’t be reasonable,” Collins said. “So what you try to do is to say ‘Well, what’s the evidence about whether that risk seems to be very significant or whether it seems to be very minimal?’ Right now, it looks minimal.” 

Vaccines can save lives. So far, the novel coronavirus has killed more than 250,000 Americans and far more worldwide. Collins predicted that relying on herd immunity alone would possibly kill millions and said that is too high a price to pay. 

“We have a chance for this to end and not to go on and it will without some intervention,” Collins said. “If you’re trying to size up benefits and risks and if you believe that God gives us the opportunity to act as his agents to try to relieve suffering and death, then it seems like this is a pretty good balance of benefits and risks that we want to engage in and probably take advantage of yourself and roll up your sleeve.” 

While the country waits on COVID-19 vaccines, Collins urged churches to gather virtually and for Americans to continue to wash their hands, wear a mask and social distance. 

“I know people are tired of hearing these messages and having to be acting upon them, but the virus does not care that we’re tired,” Collins said.

Reach Holly Meyer at hmeyer@tennessean.com or 615-259-8241 and on Twitter @HollyAMeyer. 

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