Vaccine Ingredients

Summary

The requester asked about vaccine suppliers and whether the Health Service discloses the use of aborted human foetus cell lines in consent forms. The Department of Health and Social Care confirmed they purchase via the Immform system, explained that specific vaccines use historical cell lines from legal abortions in the 1960s, and stated that this information is not currently provided to patients on consent forms.

Key Facts

• Vaccines are purchased via the Immform vaccine procurement system on behalf of Public Health England, not directly from manufacturers.
• Only the rubella component of MMR vaccines and shingles/chickenpox vaccines use human cell-lines (WI-38 and MRC-5).
• The cell-lines were established in the 1960s from lung cells of two aborted foetuses, and no new foetuses are required to maintain them.
• The original abortions were legal and consented to by the mothers, but were not performed for vaccine development purposes.
• The Department of Health and Social Care does not provide information on cell lines as part of patient consent forms.

Data Disclosed

• 2017-11-28
• 2018-01-05
• 1960s
• 50 years
• IM111-870i
• 3 pages

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Department of Health and Social Care

Rheynn Slaynt as Kiarail y Theay

Page 1 of 3 FOIA/DHSC/rvsd/01

Chief Executive: Malcolm Couch Freedom of Information Team DHSC Digital Cronk Coar Strang IM4 4RJ Tel: Email: Website: Date: FOI Reference: (01624) 642621 foi.dhsc@gov.im www.gov.im/dhsc 5 January 2018 IM111-870i

Dear
REQUEST UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2015 (“the Act”) Thank you for your request to the Department of Health and Social Care, dated 28 November 2017 Your request You asked for: Question 01: “Kindly advise what pharmaceutical Company's the Health service buys the flu and other vaccines from and is the health service aware that some pharmaceutical companies derive their cell lines from aborted human foetuses? If so is the information clear on the consent forms that the patients sign to give informed consent to the vaccinations ?
www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/human-cell-strains-vaccine- development”

Response to your request The DHSC does not purchase vaccines directly from the manufacturer; rather we purchase them via the ‘Immform vaccine procurement system’. Immform is a service provided on behalf of Public Health England to supply vaccines to the NHS. The Department of Health and Social Care purchases vaccines for the island through this system. Below is a list of the vaccines purchased for the current financial year:

Page 2 of 3 FOIA/DHSC/rvsd/01

Persons interested in the development of vaccines may find the following Oxford Vaccine Project site useful: http://vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/

Human Cell-lines

For some vaccines, the active ingredient has to be grown in laboratories on cultures that contain human cell-lines. This is because the viruses are specific to humans and will only grow in human cells.

For vaccines used in the UK, only the viruses for the rubella part of the MMR vaccines (MMRVaxPro and Priorix) and for the shingles vaccine and chickenpox vaccines (Zostavax, Varivax and Varilrix) are grown in human cell-lines. Once grown, the viruses are purified several times to remove the cell culture material.

The cell-lines used (called WI-38 and MRC-5) were started in the 1960s using small quantities of lung cells taken from two aborted foetuses. The abortions were legal and agreed to by the mothers, but they were not performed for the purpose of vaccine development.

It is important to understand that the original foetal cells have long since disappeared; because these cell-lines still exist nearly 50 years later, no other foetuses are needed to make human cell-lines for growing these vaccine viruses.

DHSC does not provide patients with information on cell lines and it is not part of the consent information provided.

Zostavax Varicella-zoster virus Bexsero Meningococcal B Vaccine Nimenrix Meningococcal ACWY Infanrix - hexa diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (acellular), poliomyelitis (inactivated), hepatitis b (rDNA) haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine Rotarix tube live attenuated rotavirus vaccine Revaxis diphtheria, tetanus and poliomyelitis MMR Vaxpro measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (live) PRI1V Priorix rubella vaccine, measles vaccine, mumps vaccine Boostrix -IPV diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (acellular) and poliomyelitis (inactivated) diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (acellular) and poliomyelitis (inactivated) Menitorix 1 Rotavirus Rotarix live attenuated rotavirus vaccine Fluenz nasal spray influenza vaccine Prevenar 13 Pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine, Pediacel diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (acellular), hib vaccine and poliomyelitis Gardasil human papillomavirus vaccine BCG weakened (attenuated) version of a bacteria called Mycobacterium bovis Enzira influenza vaccine

Page 3 of 3 FOIA/DHSC/rvsd/01 Your right to request a review
If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post to me at DHSC Freedom of Information Team, Department of Health and Social Care, Chief Executive’s Office, Crookall House, Demesne Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 3QA; Email: Foi.DHSC@gov.im. An electronic version of our complaint form can be found at www.gov.im/foireview.. If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on;

1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or
2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.

In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision.

More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im/.

Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi

Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Team Department of Health and Social Care