Six of the eight major COVID-19 vaccines, including the two currently in use in Canada, were not made using aborted fetal cells according to a report released by pro-life agency Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI).

The organization released a report weeks ago looking at the production and testing of the vaccines. The report does, however, say that in some, but not all cases, cells were used in testing the final product.

“In terms of the production, in terms of what goes into my arm, [they had] no contact whatsoever with a fetal cell line"

The six vaccines that did not use cell lines from abortions were from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Novavax, Sanofi/GSK, Inovio and Merck. The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are already in use in Canada.

Tara Sander Lee, a Charlotte Lozier senior fellow and the co-author of the analysis, called it “great news” that a majority of vaccine candidates “do not use fetal cell lines in the production” – that is, “what is going to actually be injected into the individual,” Christian Headlines reports. Lee made the comments during an interview with EWTN’s Pro-Life Weekly.

"This is incredibly positive and encouraging news that we have now," she says. "Six leading vaccines in Operation Warp Speed … are using alternative methods that do not rely on fetal cell lines for production."

CH reports that "David Prentice, vice president and research director at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, said confusion has arisen in the pro-life community because Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna used 'confirmatory tests' using fetal cell lines on the 'finished product' – that is, after the vaccine was developed and produced."

"Testing, he said, 'does not directly connect' the fetal cell lines to the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. It is, he said, a 'level removed' from development and production."

"But because the company and their collaborators may have used those abortion-derived cell lines in the testing, there is still a matter of concern here," Prentice says.

"In terms of the production, in terms of what goes into my arm, [they had] no contact whatsoever with a fetal cell line," Prentice says of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

The experts at CLI say they are urging all vaccine developers to use noncontroversial alternatives.

The AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines both use "aborted cell lines" in their production.

The CLI works to "promote deeper public understanding of the value of human life, motherhood, and fatherhood, and to identify policies and practices that will protect life and serve both women’s health and family well-being," the organization says on its website.

"Our profound conviction is that the insights available through the best science, sociology and psychology cannot help but demonstrate that each and every human is not only 'fearfully and wonderfully made' but blessed to be born at this time in human history.

"We desire and seek that the benefits of modern medicine and the wealth of nations be put to the service of human life and that the scourges of abortion, physical disease, euthanasia and human exploitation will be diminished and ultimately overcome.  Our intention is to work closely with the full array of existing groups dedicated to parallel purposes – to provide them with information of the highest quality that will assist them in their tasks of public advocacy, legal argument, and social action.  We will do so while remaining faithful to the best methodologies and standards, inviting and accepting debate in the pursuit of our goals so that our work earns the highest degree of public trust and respect."

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h/t: Christian Headlines

Edited to add background information on CLI.