Overview
- - The CDC held back a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report after acting director Jay Bhattacharya questioned its methodology, with HHS saying such leadership review is routine.
- - The unpublished analysis, obtained by the Washington Post, found healthy adults vaccinated in late 2025 had about 50% fewer urgent or emergency visits and 55% fewer Covid hospitalizations, using a test‑negative design that compares vaccination status among people seeking care.
- - The study had cleared CDC scientific review and was slated for March 19 publication in MMWR, the agency’s weekly journal, even as a flu vaccine paper using the same approach appeared there the prior week.
- - Current and former CDC officials warned the delay could reflect the vaccine‑skeptical posture of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., noting recent moves that dropped Covid vaccine recommendations for children and healthy pregnant women.
- - Bhattacharya is meeting with CDC scientists to discuss revisions and no new publication date has been set, a limbo that fuels concern about transparency in evidence that shapes health guidance and clinical decisions.