When they announced that Covid-19 vaccines would soon be available, as a vegan I immediately wanted to know if the vaccines would be vegan, so I turned to google. The Vegan Society (“Vegan Society response to Covid-19 vaccine”) states:
“The definition of veganism recognises that it is not always possible or practicable for vegans to avoid participating in animal use, which is particularly relevant to medical situations. In the case of Covid-19, vaccination is playing a fundamental role in tackling the pandemic and saving lives. As there is currently a legal requirement that all vaccines are tested on animals, at this point in time it is impossible to have a vaccine that has been created without animal use.”
The statement continues with: “The Vegan Society believes in and works towards a future in which the role of animals in medicine is eliminated.”
After learning that the Covid-19 vaccines would not contain animal ingredients, but that they would be tested on monkeys, I googled further and learned that my heroes at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (whose President, Neal Barnard, MD, writes that the vegan diet is a powerful tool to prevent, manage, and even reverse diabetes), are working hard to end animal-based research. In “We Don’t Need More Monkeys, We Need a New Strategy to Test Vaccines,” they write:
“Animal-based research continually fails to replicate human disease and continually fails to produce safe and effective therapeutics. Instead of monkeys and other animals, more ethical, effective, and sustainable human-based methods are the future. Because they use human cells and tissues, these approaches can better replicate the pathology of human diseases, including COVID-19.”
Based on that research I decided to get the Covid-19 vaccine. After receiving the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, I came home and went online to look at photos of monkeys. I felt so sad about those monkeys who were experimented on (and then killed) for humans to (hopefully) end this pandemic.
While I think it is important for humankind to get the Covid-19 vaccines, I do not support animal-based research. Here is a short video that gives an example of just how much the monkeys suffer in laboratories: “Abuse of Baby Monkeys.”
I understand that me feeling sad for the monkeys (and praying for the monkeys) will not help them, and so I feel very grateful to the many dedicated people who are working to end experiments on non-human animals.
May all beings be allowed to live in the freedom that is their birthright, including all the beautiful monkeys.
Monkeys: Pete Linforth on Pixabay.
