Some of my vegan friends are reluctant to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
These vaccines do not contain animal products. Yet animals were used to develop and test them. For instance, early trials involved giving the vaccines to mice and macaque monkeys. So my friends say they feel uncomfortable having a product that uses animals in these ways.
I am very sympathetic to their concerns. Animals are treated appallingly in the production of many goods and in many areas of life.
Nonetheless, I believe vegans can get the Covid-19 vaccine in good conscience. Let me explain why.
Preventing harming others
A key feature of Covid-19 is you can catch it and pass it on without even knowing you have it, despite your best efforts to avoid this.
This means we each pose a potentially deadly risk to others. Getting the vaccine yourself greatly reduces the chance of you having a serious disease. And the evidence is emerging that vaccines reduce the chance of you passing on the virus to others.
This…
