Vegan/ non-Vegan, Vegetarian/ non-Vegetarian, Kosher/
non-Kosher and Halal/ non-Halal Vaccines and Medicines
Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/381483065_Vegan_non-Vegan_Veg_non-Veg_Kosher_non-Kosher_and_Halalnon-Halal_Vaccines_and_Medicines
We have been using vaccine shots for more than 100 years now. Edward Jenner's first smallpox vaccination took place in 1796. In St. Louis, 13 children died of tetanus-contaminated diphtheria antitoxin. In the autumn of 1901, nine children in Camden, New Jersey, died from the tainted smallpox vaccine. Thus, to ensure the purity of biological treatments by the government, the first Biologics Control Act of 1902 came into existence, followed by similar acts in different countries. There is hardly anyone on the earth who has never been jabbed with one or other vaccine, certainly, those vaccines were not classified as Vegan, Vegetarian, Kosher, Jain, or Halal because all these terms pertain to diets, not medicines and vaccines. If the question of Vegan, Vegetarian, Kosher, or Halal in the case of medicines and vaccines exists, then we have already lost our faith and violated our religion innumerable times because of the use of substances prohibited by one or other faith and beliefs have been used unaccountably. Why did the question of Vegan/ non-vegan, Jain/non-Jain, Kosher/non-kosher, Veg/non-veg, and Halal/non-Halal vaccines emerge only a few years ago? It appears to be a reactionary antivaccination move by people, probably against autocratic decisions to force COVID-19 vaccination globally. To find an escape from being jabbed with poorly tested vaccines for efficacy and safety of not only the vaccine but also the novel vaccine technology used (mRNA), and emergency-approved vaccines, people started to find solace in religion and faith, the last resort available to the helpless. Another important reason for ethnic acceptability of vaccine(s) may be the information revolution especially social media (with half-truths and providing malicious information too, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-023-01798-4) making most of the needed and not-needful information available to all through internet and knowing the facts about the composition of vaccine(s) and medicine(s). However, I feel that vested interests of different groups, including the researchers and pharmaceuticals interested in minting money for providing ethnically accepted vaccine(s) and medicine(s). Pharmaceuticals are always for financially exploiting consumers for their specific choices, ethnic beliefs, and religious concerns. Jains and vegans consider the consumption of animals and their products inhumane, and vegetarians too (except milk and milk products) so they can’t take any vaccine and many lifesaving medicines. To satisfy their needs of vegans specifically, the Medicago Covifenz® COVID-19 vaccine, a SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) recombinant (adjuvanted), protein virus-like particle (VLP) expressed in plants has been developed. However, how to test and conduct clinical trials of such vegan vaccines, will vegans/ Jains or Vegetarians submit themselves to conduct all tests (safety, potency, and efficacy) on vaccines/ medicines required for their public use/ clearance for public sale? And, how can vegans forget that the process of expressing VLPs in plants how much work that has already been done on animals, and with the use of animal products? It is a similar case as we say, I bought meat from the market, I haven’t killed any animal, and it does not make much difference whether I buy or not that meat because, after all, it is in the market and destined to be consumed.
Almost 50% of the vaccines to control viral diseases and a few bacterial diseases
are invariably produced after inoculating embryonated eggs incubated for 7-12 days,
and all live organisms are killed in the process. The most widely used egg-based
vaccines include, seasonal
inactivated influenza vaccine (s), pandemic inactivated influenza vaccine(s)
e.g. H1N1, bird or swine flu vaccines, Yellow-fever vaccine, Q fever vaccine, Rabies vaccine, most avian
viral vaccines, Japanese encephalitis vaccine, Chlamydia, Rickettsia (Typhus
vaccine) vaccines, Smallpox vaccine (https://uomustansiriyah.edu.iq/media/lectures/6/6_2021_09_12!12_02_26_AM.pdf). That is all Vegans, Vegetarians, and Jains have already
spoiled their faith after getting one or other vaccine shot. To cash on the
faith of such people, an egg-free flu vaccine (Flublok Quadrivalent) has been
licensed for use in the United States, and the Shingles vaccine has no egg products in Shingrix® but is
not for Vegans/ Vegetarians or Jains but for those who are allergic to
ovalbumin as it contains an ingredient because it is produced in Chinese
Hamster Ovary cells.
Faith of Hindus (not accepting
any cow meat or cow blood products), Jains, Vegans, and Vegetarians have already
been shattered as they have no choice because foetal bovine serum (FBS)
is the most commonly used
component of most viruses and many bacterial culture media used during
vaccine production. However, due to possible allergic reactions in humans
to bovine serum albumin (an important ingredient in FBS), the World Health
Organization (WHO) has set an upper limit of BSA (≤50 ng BSA per dose). Most of
the nasal spray and oral vaccines contain albumen BSA to help the vaccine
antigen bypass the nasal or oral mucosal barriers. Besides allergies to BSA, another major scientific concern to limit the use of FBS is the possible
transmission of some pathogens, including prions, viruses, Mycoplasma,
or other unidentified zoonotic microbes. To avoid the use of BSA, the use of
human albumin is suggested (but fear of indirect cannibalism emerges here)
GSK's varicella vaccine is created with the use of human serum albumin (HSA) to
stabilize the viral antigen and to prevent the antigen from adhering to the walls
of vaccine vials.
With the use of vaccines
and many other medicines not only the faith and sentiments of Jains, Hindus, Vegans and
Vegetarians have been risked but the use of gelatin (the most common
stabilizer almost invariably used in live virus vaccines and is commonly of
porcine origin extracted from bones, skin, or tissue, usually from
pork or beef) also thwarted the faith of Muslims
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10612269/) and Jews as pigs are
not allowed to be consumed in both of religions (pigs are Haram for Muslims and
not consumable for Jews being an animal which doesn’t chew the cud). To cash on
the faith of people, Rabavert to prevent Rabies and Shingrix to prevent
Shingles have been prepared without containing pig gelatine. But gelatin
is used in a very wide range of capsulated medicines and vaccines (Vivitif, an
oral Typhoid vaccine). Various vaccines contain variable amounts of pig gelatin
ranging from 2mg/ dose (Flumist for Flu) to 14.5 mg/ dose (MMR II for Measles,
Mumps, Rubella, and Varicella. Further to cash on the faith of people
certifications like Kosher and Halal for the use of meat and meat products are
in practice, but the validity of such certificates is always questionable in
factory-produced animal products, and most animal-origin ingredients used
in vaccine and medicine production. Moreover, in many of the countries where
millions of animals are sacrificed every day for meat and other products, the
truth of not only Halal certification but also certification of fitness for
product consumption suitability is under questionable validity.
Other common
products of animal origin used in modern medicine are lactose, glycerin, and
stearic acid, insulin required by diabetics is
extracted from the animal pancreas, and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) for
treating infertility is extracted from pregnant women's urine, thyroxin to
treat hypertension is from sheep thyroid, vitamin A, D and omega-3 fatty acids
are from fish oils, antitoxin serum against snake venom, and tetanus toxin etc
are the product of horse blood or produced in animals, heparin and enoxaparin
(blood thinners), thyroid hormones, pancrelipase (for pancreatic insufficiency)
come from pigs, conjugated oestrogens (to treat hot flushes and other menopause
problems) is from mare urine, intralipid (intravenous nutrition required by people
in a coma) and propofol (diprivan, an anaesthetic relaxant) are of poultry egg
origin
(https://www.goodrx.com/well-being/diet-nutrition/medications-that-contain-animal-byproducts).
Toxins from the venom of snakes, spiders, centipedes, and several other animals
have been used for the treatment of chronic pain, heart problems, and type 2
diabetes. The best calcium and iron supplements are usually of animal origin.
Not only in
medicine and vaccines but we use several animal products in our daily lives
viz., sodium
tallowate, used in making soaps comes from tallow, fat of animals such as
cattle and sheep, shellac (laakh) is a resin excreted by female insects (Kerria lacca)
for their progeny, silk comes from silkworms (cocoons often boiled live).
In Ayurvedic medicine, about 15–20% of therapeutic agents are derived from animals, most commonly used products
are dung, urine, and milk of cows, buffalo, sheep, goats, camels, horses, dogs,
elephants, and humans. Not only secretions and excretions but body parts of
animals like peafowl’s legs rubbed in water for ear infection, pig tallow for
massage in pain management, sambhar antlers rubbed in water for eye ailments,
pigeon blood for massage in paralysis, collared dove meat for puberty in girls,
crow and bat flesh to treat whooping cough, house sparrow droppings to treat
asthma, dog flesh to treat wound infections, goat skin covered to turmeric to
treat pneumonia and blood is rubbed to cure fractures, hyena blood and flesh
for asthma, ass blood for massage on arthritic joints, jackal flesh for asthma
and sciatica, blood for massage to cure arthritis, roasted rat to cure baldness
etc. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1636027;
https://nopr.niscpr.res.in/bitstream/123456789/25966/1/IJTK%202(4)%20346-356.pdf),
that is Ayurveda doesn’t preach for pure vegetarianism.
Similarly, Unani medicine
also uses several animal products as therapeutic agents viz., the
secretion of testes (semen) of the animal to cure nervous disorders, epilepsy
and hysteria marinated (in saline water) earthworm dried as aphrodisiac, amber
( secretion from, a whale mouth) to control tetanus, loss of sensation,
palpitation and sexual debility, fish extracts can be used as cardiac tonic and
aphrodisiac, blood and flesh of pigeon for improving blood circulation and
treatment of paralysis etc. Not only animal products but live animals like
leeches (joint pains), wasps, and maggots (for infected wounds) are used in
Unani therapeutics
(https://applications.emro.who.int/imemrf/Hamdard_Med/Hamdard_Med_2012_55_1_5_9.pdf).
Chinese medicine went a few steps further even to use wild
and endangered animals and their products like tiger
bones, tiger penis, bones of antelope, buffalo or rhino horns, deer antlers,
testicles and os penis of the dog, bear or snake bile, pangolins’ scales,
blood, and foetuses in therapeutics (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12801499/#:~:text=Traditional%20Chinese%20medicine%20(TCM)%20has,dog%2C%20bear%20or%20snake%20bile;
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/these-chinese-medicines-actually-contain-body-parts-from-animals.html).
In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), rhinoceros horn is used to treat fever, convulsions, and
delirium, bones of Panthera tigris have
been used in wines, plasters, and manufactured medicines to treat arthritis and
other joint ailments, soupe of tiger penis is used for increasing
virility, bear bile to liver ailments and headaches, Musk of musk deer is used
to promote circulation and to treat skin infections and abdominal pain, and
seahorses for kidney ailments, circulatory problems, and impotence
(https://www.britannica.com/explore/savingearth/traditional-chinese-medicine-and-endangered-animals-2).
Therefore,
questions of faith, religion, and ethnic values may be kept aside concerning
medicines, vaccines, and other therapeutic supplements used in modern medicine
because modern medicine and therapeutic are much younger in origin than any of
the faiths and religions and may be considered as the advancement or origin of
a New Universal Religion.
