Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine against small pox in 1796, and since then every religion has released what they think on the subject. For those who are Catholic the most common reason for not getting vaccinated is due to cells from a legally aborted fetus being used in the production of some viral vaccines. In the Orthodox religions which is the main religion in Russia, their doctrine states that vaccines are a way to achieve progress but 3%-5% of the population refuse to get vaccinated annually. As anti-vaccine propaganda became more widespread in Russia, the orthodox church made a statement in 2008. Their statement said that vaccines can be used to prevent some horrible disease, the only time that harmful side effects are likely to occur is when they are given to a child with a weak immune system. The Protestant churches say that it is the right of the parent to choose whether or not they want to have their child vaccinated. Since there are so many different views within the Protestant religion, the opinion is pretty split. Some state that vaccinations interfere with God's plan, while others think they are God's gift, and a third group who got their child vaccinated and experienced side effects say that God is punishing them for making the wrong decision. The Jewish, do not have any scripture that speaks about vaccinations. They do believe that God commands them to be fruitful and multiply. They believe to obey his command that they must be healthy therefore parents in the Jewish faith are strongly recommended to vaccinate their children. The Islamic religion, has statements about not eating certain animals. Some vaccines contain gelatin which could be from one of the non-halal animals. Though in the case that a vaccine is required and there is no alternative for the gelatin, the Islamic faith says to get the vaccine because the law of necessity states that the person will not be punished due to the lack of alternative. In the Buddhist faith, doing no harm to other living beings is a main credence of their faith. Many see the use of biological material in the creation of vaccines as a push to save others instead of a sacrifice of life therefore many Buddhists get vaccinated. Finally the Japanese people do not have a set religion, it is more of a mix of multiple religions. They tend to hold gratitude to all things, therefore reject most biomedical practices, though they have been slowly coming around to the use of vaccines.1
1Pelčić, G., Karačić, S., Mikirtichan, G. L., Kubar, O. I., Leavitt, F.
J., Tai, M. C.-T., … Tomašević, L. (2016). Religious exception for
vaccination or religious excuses for avoiding vaccination. Croatian Medical Journal, 57(5), 516–521. doi: 10.3325/cmj.2016.57.516
