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5h ago

Study the Acting CDC Director Blocked Is Published in JAMA Network Open

The paper’s release heightens a public dispute over a common vaccine-surveillance method and raises questions about how the agency reviews and shares timely vaccine data.

FILE - A sign for flu & COVID-19 vaccines is displayed outside a CVS store in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, file)
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Overview

  • The vaccine-effectiveness study was published in JAMA Network Open on Tuesday after it was delayed and then withheld from the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report earlier this year.
  • The analysis used a test-negative design of patients with Covid-like illness seen in hospitals and urgent care from September to December 2025 and found the 2025–26 vaccine cut ER or urgent care visits by about 50% and hospitalizations by about 55%.
  • Acting CDC director Jay Bhattacharya flagged the paper after it cleared the agency’s Office of Science, saying the test-negative design relies on assumptions and that cohort studies are a stronger approach.
  • Many public-health researchers defended the test-negative method as a practical, established tool for real-time monitoring and said withholding the paper raised concerns about political influence on scientific communication.
  • The dispute matters for public health practice because shifting standards on acceptable methods could slow or change routine vaccine surveillance and affect how quickly officials can estimate vaccine protection for COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.