Skip to content

CDC chief blocked covid vaccine study now published in medical journal

scienceJun 23, 2026251,607

Acting CDC director Jay Bhattacharya blocked a study from appearing in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report; the paper was published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open. The case-control study covering September through December 2025 found that healthy adults who received the 2025, 26 COVID vaccine had about 50% fewer emergency department and urgent care visits and roughly 55% fewer COVID-associated hospitalizations. Bhattacharya halted the MMWR publication citing methodological concerns, while JAMA Network Open accepted the same study design after peer review. The results strengthen evidence that updated COVID vaccination cut severe outcomes last winter and revive questions about CDC publication decisions and the robustness of national vaccine surveillance.

3 sources