The publication of a report demonstrating that the Covid vaccine is highly effective at reducing hospitalizations has been delayed by the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I heard about this through Misryoum, though it feels like one of those situations where the details get buried. Two scientists familiar with the decision told the Washington Post that the delay happened, and they spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were worried about—well, you know, retaliation.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the delay to Misryoum. It turns out that Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the economist who helms the National Institutes of Health, took issue with the report’s methodology. He was acting director of the CDC at the time and has been given some pretty broad authority lately while the Trump administration looks for someone permanent to take the seat. The room smells faintly of stale coffee and printer toner, the kind of place where these high-level decisions quietly get stalled.
“Dr. Bhattacharya expressed concerns about the observational method used in this study to calculate vaccine effectiveness, and the scientific team is working to address these concerns,” Emily G. Hilliard, the HHS spokesperson, told Misryoum. It’s funny, or maybe not—the report was supposed to hit the March issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. But even though the methodology was questioned, a study using that exact same method—looking at the vaccination status of patients in emergency rooms—had actually been published in that same journal just a week earlier. That one was about flu vaccines. Actually, let me double-check that. Yes, the flu vaccine paper went through fine.
Hilliard didn’t really answer when asked if it’s typical for political appointees to vet independent research outside their wheelhouse. She just said it’s routine for leadership to flag concerns, especially regarding methodology, leading up to publication. It makes you wonder where the line is.
Then there’s the broader context. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the Department of Human and Health Services, has been very vocal about his vaccine skepticism. He founded Children’s Health Defense before landing this role. Last year, he cleared out the entire 17-member CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and brought in a new group that includes other skeptics. The committee has since walked back recommendations for Covid vaccines in healthy children and pregnant women, and even rolled back guidance on hepatitis B vaccinations for newborns. It’s a significant shift from the previous standing recommendation for everyone six months and older.
And it’s not just the CDC. The FDA also caused a stir when they initially refused to review Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine application, though they eventually reversed course after a meeting in February. It feels like the landscape is shifting under our feet—or maybe we’re just watching the machinery change.