Health

CDC Chief Blocks Publication of COVID Vaccine Study

Is this political interference or legitimate scientific scrutiny?

Published APR 23

CDC Chief Blocks Publication of COVID Vaccine Study

Story

Above: NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya on March 28, 2026. Image credit: Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Facts

Jay Bhattacharya, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has blocked a study from being published in the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) that found COVID-19 vaccines cut emergency room visits and hospitalizations among healthy adults by roughly half last winter.
Reuters
The New York Times
The study had cleared the CDC's internal scientific review process and received an official rejection letter on Tuesday despite having been scheduled for publication on March 19. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesman Andrew Nixon confirmed the decision, citing concerns about the "methodological approach to estimating vaccine effectiveness."
CIDRAP
CNN
The test-negative methodology used in the blocked study is the same approach employed in a flu vaccine study published in the MMWR the previous month, and has been used in research published by the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA Network Open, The Lancet and Pediatrics.
The Associated Press
The New Republic
Former CDC official Michael Iademarco, who oversaw the MMWR from 2014 to 2022, said that he could not recall the CDC stopping an MMWR report after it had passed scientific clearance and editorial review.
CNN
The Independent
The CDC has been without a confirmed director since Susan Monarez was removed on Aug. 27, 2025, after disagreeing with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policy. Trump has since nominated Erica Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general, to lead the agency.
People
CIDRAP
The blocked report follows a series of vaccine policy changes under Kennedy, including removing the CDC's broad COVID-19 vaccine recommendation for children and pregnant women. A federal judge has temporarily stayed some of those policy changes while legal proceedings continue.
Reuters
News Nation

Sources Split

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CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

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ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

Bhattacharya blocked this study because the test-negative design cannot produce an unbiased efficacy estimate. This is a legitimate scientific concern, not a political one. MMWR is not peer-reviewed, and publishing methodologically flawed research there would mislead the public rather than inform it. Holding the study to a higher standard is exactly what rigorous, trustworthy public health science demands.

The Epoch Times on X

Narrative B

The CDC is sitting on a finished study cleared by its own scientific reviewers showing the strong efficacy of COVID vaccines, and the only reason it hasn't been published is politics. The test-negative design used is the same method the CDC just used for a flu vaccine study three weeks prior, so the methodology objection doesn't hold up. Withholding evidence that helps people make real health decisions isn't transparency, it's interference.

Raghu Venugopal on X

Dr. Noc, PhD on Substack

Metaculus Prediction

Editor's Note

This story currently has limited reporting from right-leaning sources. We will continue to monitor all major outlets and update our coverage as additional perspectives become available.