A CDC report on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness that the agency delayed in March has now been blocked from publication entirely, The Washington Post reported April 22.
The report found the vaccine reduced the likelihood of emergency department visits and hospital admissions for COVID-19 by about half this past winter among healthy adults.
It was slated for publication March 19 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report but was delayed after National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, expressed concerns over its methodology. Dr. Bhattacharya has been temporarily leading the agency until a permanent director is named.
“The MMWR’s editorial assessment identified concerns regarding the methodological approach to estimating vaccine effectiveness and the manuscript was not accepted for publication,” an HHS spokesperson told the Post.
The methodology Dr. Bhattacharya flagged has long been used by the CDC to assess vaccine effectiveness for respiratory viruses, including in a flu vaccine effectiveness study the CDC published in March, according to the report.
The report had cleared the CDC’s full internal scientific review process before being stopped, two sources who wished to remain anonymous told the Post. Former CDC officials said the move breaks with longstanding agency practice.
The decision comes as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces congressional scrutiny over his vaccine agenda during budget hearings this month.
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