{"id":14886,"date":"2026-05-28T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=14886"},"modified":"2026-05-15T22:30:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T02:30:51","slug":"cdc-blocks-covid-vaccine-study-publication-amid-methodology-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/?p=14886","title":{"rendered":"CDC Blocks Covid \u201cVaccine\u201d Study Publication Amid Methodology Dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By\u00a0Willow Tohi, Natural News \u2022\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.printfriendly.com\/print\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthelibertydaily.com%2Fcdc-blocks-covid-vaccine-study-publication-amid-methodology%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Acting CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya delayed publication of a March 2026 study showing COVID-19 vaccines reduced hospitalization risk by 55% for healthy adults.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bhattacharya cited concerns about the test-negative design methodology, which has been used for decades in vaccine effectiveness research.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lawmakers accused Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of political interference in suppressing vaccine benefit data.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>CDC scientists defended the methodology, noting it was used in a flu vaccine study published just one week earlier.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The dispute highlights growing tensions between Kennedy\u2019s vaccine-skeptical administration and career CDC researchers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why a Widely Used Vaccine Study Method Now Faces Scrutiny<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention blocked publication of a study showing COVID-19 vaccines reduced severe illness by about half last winter, citing methodology concerns that have divided public health experts and sparked accusations of political interference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, appointed to lead the CDC in February 2025, delayed the study scheduled for the March 19, 2026 issue of the agency\u2019s flagship Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The report had cleared scientific review but was halted over objections to its use of test-negative design, a method employed for decades to evaluate flu and COVID vaccine effectiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study found that healthy adults who received the 2025-2026 COVID vaccine reduced emergency department visits by 50% and hospitalizations by 55% compared to unvaccinated individuals, according to a summary obtained by news organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Methodology Debate: Science or Politics?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bhattacharya, in a Washington Post op-ed, characterized his decision as a matter of scientific rigor rather than political interference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cScientific disagreement is not interference,\u201d Bhattacharya wrote. \u201cWhen methodological limitations could meaningfully affect findings \u2014 especially on an issue as consequential as vaccine effectiveness \u2014 it is not only appropriate but necessary to pause, question and scrutinize.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The test-negative design compares vaccination rates among people who test positive for a disease versus those who test negative after seeking medical care. Bhattacharya argued the method \u201cthrows away all data about people, vaccinated or not, who are never hospitalized\u201d and relies on \u201cunverifiable assumptions\u201d about behavioral differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Retsef Levi of MIT\u2019s Sloan School of Management, a member of the CDC\u2019s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, agreed with Bhattacharya\u2019s concerns, noting he had raised them during a September 2025 ACIP meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Political Fallout and Accusations of \u2018Muzzling Scientists\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The delayed publication prompted swift backlash from Democratic lawmakers and public health experts. Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey, Diane DeGette of Colorado and Yvette Clarke of New York sent a letter to Health Secretary Kennedy suggesting the administration had taken actions that \u201cdeliberately misrepresent the risk of vaccinations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Washington Post reported the move \u201craised concerns among current and former officials that information about the vaccine\u2019s benefits are being downplayed\u201d because they conflict with Kennedy\u2019s long-standing vaccine skepticism. Kennedy, who founded a prominent anti-vaccine group before becoming health secretary, once called COVID shots the \u201cdeadliest vaccine ever made.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Fiona Havers, a former CDC medical epidemiologist who resigned in June 2025 in protest of Kennedy\u2019s appointees, called the decision \u201ca new level of political interference into CDC\u2019s scientific process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An HHS spokesperson said Bhattacharya was not in a position to review an earlier flu vaccine study published March 12 that used the same methodology, but would have raised identical concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Historical Context: A Century of Vaccine Policy Under Fire<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The dispute occurs against the backdrop of Kennedy\u2019s broader overhaul of federal vaccine policy. In 2025, Kennedy bypassed the CDC\u2019s standard advisory process by directing the agency to no longer recommend COVID vaccines for healthy pregnant women and children. A federal judge later blocked most of Kennedy\u2019s new appointees to the vaccine advisory committee, ruling they were unqualified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Public health officials noted that the COVID vaccines were first evaluated through randomized controlled trials leading to FDA approval. Conducting such trials annually for licensed vaccines would be both costly and ethically problematic, Havers argued, because it would require withholding an approved vaccine from participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cWhen methodological limitations could meaningfully affect findings \u2014 especially on an issue as consequential as vaccine effectiveness \u2014 it is not only appropriate but necessary to pause, question and scrutinize.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u2014 Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Acting CDC Director<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The CDC\u2019s vaccine safety office has seen significant turnover, with three senior leaders resigning in summer 2025 after clashes with Kennedy over policy direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Happens Next<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study\u2019s authors may submit their findings to independent medical journals for publication. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said the CDC \u201cremains committed to timely publication and to transparency about the data and methods that underpin its conclusions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Brian Hooker, chief scientific officer of Children\u2019s Health Defense, the organization Kennedy founded, characterized the dispute as a correction of long-standing bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have a historically one-sided CDC that produces \u2018Johnny One-Note\u2019 studies lauding the benefits of vaccines,\u201d Hooker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Daniel O\u2019Connor of TrialSite News argued for greater transparency regardless of methodological disagreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cScience does not lose credibility because it is imperfect,\u201d O\u2019Connor said. \u201cIt loses credibility when institutions hide the imperfections from public view.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The outcome of this dispute may set precedents for how the CDC evaluates and communicates vaccine effectiveness during Kennedy\u2019s tenure, with implications for public trust and immunization policy nationwide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By\u00a0Willow Tohi, Natural News \u2022\u00a0 Why a Widely Used Vaccine Study Method Now Faces Scrutiny WASHINGTON \u2014 The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention blocked publication [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[669,761,149,445,607],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adenovirus-vector-vaccines","category-concerns","category-epidemiology","category-policies-politics","category-vaccine-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14886"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14889,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14886\/revisions\/14889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}