Today`s gospel is about ritual purification and not eating unclean foods etc. Jesus accuses his own people of being very meticulous about these practices while not minding having unclean hearts. It`s interesting reading about some of the ritual washings the Jews performed before eating. They washed their hands and arms up to the elbows; it would have been very hygienic without that being the intention. They thought this made them morally good or stopped them from being morally bad. Jesus told them only the intentions of their hearts made them good or bad.
We understand that good hygienic practice keeps us healthy, and under present circumstances hygiene is especially important. We all remember the washing hands campaign at the beginning of the pandemic. In the gospel Jesus says it`s not what goes into people that makes them bad, but what comes from the heart. In present circumstances vaccines that go into us can keep us healthy. Is there also a moral aspect to being hygienic and having vaccines? I think there is; we can intend to keep other people safe as well as ourselves. But it is what we intend that is important, we could do these things in a spirit of pure selfishness. What comes from our hearts is what counts with God.