In the UK all medications, by law, must be tested on animals. This isn’t a law I agree with, and I feel that technological advances mean that other methods for testing could, and should, replace the use of animals in medical and pharmaceutical research. However, we aren’t there yet, and the reality is that all of our medications and vaccines will have been tested on laboratory animals. As heartbreaking as that is to accept, I don’t feel that it means vegans should necessarily decline the Covid vaccine – or any vaccine for that matter. Does this make me less of a vegan?
The Vegan Society defines veganism as ‘a philosophy and way of living, which seeks to exclude – as far as is possible and practicable – all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose’. The words possible and practicable are important in my argument for why vegans should accept the vaccine. As individuals, we have no control over the laws that govern medication production. By accepting the vaccine, we are not going against society’s definition of the lifestyle we are following, as it is neither possible nor practicable for us to obtain vaccines that have not been tested on animals.
Rebecca Jones: ‘I feel that the compassion of veganism stretches not only to non-human animals but to other people too’
I have heard the argument that one should just decline the vaccine, therefore retaining a pristine vegan title. But this doesn’t sit well with me, in terms of my ideas of what a responsible, vegan member of society should look like. I feel that the compassion of veganism stretches not only to non-human animals but to other people too. There are some vulnerable people who, for whatever reason, will not be able to accept the vaccine. Therefore, it is my duty, as a member of society, and as a healthcare professional looking after these people, to ensure that I am preventing myself from passing on a potentially deadly infection to those around me.
Vegan medics are not completely unheard of; I run a Facebook group called Vegan Doctors of the UK, and we currently have over 300 members. There, the general consensus regarding Western medicine, including vaccination, largely matches my own.
Even so, I understand that other vegans may choose to reject Western medicine and what it offers, I feel that keeping myself healthy and well only assists me in my fight for animal equality. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve rarely needed much medical care or medication in my life, but I feel equally lucky that I can access it, should I need to, and that I’ve had the privilege of receiving a full complement of vaccinations.
When the Covid jab was offered to me, I had no qualms about accepting it. I know I need to remain healthy for my family, my patients, and in order to keep up my own version of vegan activism – even if that is just cooking good vegan food for friends and family, or guiding other vegans through the mostly omnivorous world of medicine and health with my writing.
In an ideal world, medications wouldn’t be tested on animals, but unfortunately, the world we’re living in is imperfect and inhabited by a majority of omnivores. As vegans, we must ensure our own wellbeing, so that we can keep spreading the word, protecting other animals and advancing veganism. Even if that means accepting the Covid vaccination. And maybe one day, we’ll have enough of us fighting for cruelty-free medications, that a non-vegan vaccine, along with Covid, will be a distant memory.
Dr Rebecca Jones is a GP and is also known as The Vegan Doctor
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/vegan-doctor-had-covid-jab-should-vegans/
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