C.D.C. Cancels Publication of Study Showing Benefits of Covid Vaccines

Key Points:

• The acting head of the CDC, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, canceled the publication of a study showing Covid vaccines reduced hospitalizations and emergency visits by about 50% last winter, citing concerns over the study’s design and vaccine effectiveness portrayal.
• The study, conducted by CDC scientists and set for publication in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, used a methodology long accepted for evaluating vaccine effectiveness, which has been routinely employed for flu and Covid vaccines.
• Former CDC officials expressed surprise at the cancellation, noting it is unusual for a study cleared by agency scientists to be pulled at this stage.
• The Department of Health and Human Services stated that the manuscript was rejected after multiple levels of review due to methodological concerns, while vaccine experts argued the methodology was standard and the data collection platform limited changes.
• Internal discussions revealed that the study’s authors were unwilling to alter the design, and similar methods were used in a recent flu vaccine study that would have faced similar scrutiny under Dr. Bhattacharya’s leadership.