WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has blocked the publication of a scientific report on how well the COVID-19 vaccine works, according to news reports.
The Washington Post reported that the study was supposed to appear on March 19 in the CDC's weekly Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The study found that the COVID-19 vaccine reduced the chances of going to the emergency room or being hospitalized by about half during the past winter.
The study had already passed the CDC's usual scientific review. But it was later delayed by acting CDC Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who had concerns about how the study was carried out, the report added. However, experts noted that the same method has been used by the CDC for years to study vaccines for respiratory illnesses, including a recent flu vaccine study.
When asked about the issue, a CDC official did not comment directly on the blocked report but said the agency must follow the highest scientific standards in what it publishes, CIDRAP News reports.
'Responsible science requires careful review. Taking time to ensure analyses are methodologically sound and clearly communicated is always preferable to risking error,' the official said.
The decision is unusual because the study used the CDC's standard approach for measuring how well vaccines work. It also relied on a large research network that collects health data from nine U.S. healthcare systems to track vaccine effectiveness across different age groups. Sources say Dr. Bhattacharya questioned a common study method called the 'test-negative design,' though officials have not clearly explained his concerns, as per CNN Health.
Even after passing internal checks and being scheduled for release, the study was officially rejected by the journal, according to one source. A spokesperson from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that the study was not published.
'Suppressing the standard of science on VE [vaccine efficacy] to wait for a perfect study in a system that cannot support it is not a hallmark of transparent scientific expertise,' Demetre Daskalakis, the former director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in an email to CIDRAP News.
He further added that the cancellation of the report appears to be 'cherry picking based on the bias of the director and others at HHS who don't fully understand the importance of the methods used to assess the added benefit of vaccines in preventing poor outcomes.'
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