world
Acting CDC Director Delays Publication of COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Report
The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has delayed the release of a report showing that COVID-19 vaccines reduced emergency room visits and hospitalizations by about 50% in healthy adults during late 2025. The delay, attributed to methodological concerns, involves a standard research approach used by the CDC for two decades.
Apr 9, 11:26 AM·1m read2 sources
United States Department of Health & Human Services / Wikimedia (Public domain)Audio version
Tap play to generate a narrated version.
Delay The test-negative design avoids placebo-controlled trials, which would be unethical given CDC recommendations for vaccination.
Just one week prior to the planned COVID-19 report release, a flu vaccine effectiveness study using the identical methodology was published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report without issue. The approach is standard and not novel.
A former CDC senior adviser noted that the approach is standard and not novel.
fired members of a CDC vaccine advisory committee and appointed replacements with apparent opposition to vaccines.
Multiple CDC employees resigned in protest against these policies. The administration has made public and internal efforts to alter vaccine research and recommendations.
Experts and former officials have raised concerns about the delay's implications for the agency's independence. The move occurs amid preparations for the 2026 midterm elections, during which the administration has sought to adjust public perceptions of COVID-19 vaccines.
