Federal health authorities have blocked the release of research that examined whether COVID-19 vaccines were effective at preventing hospitalizations among adults.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Wednesday that officials decided to prevent the study’s publication, pointing to disagreements over the research methodology used.
The blocked research was scheduled to be published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which serves as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s primary publication.
Researchers typically evaluate COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness by examining patients who end up in hospitals or emergency departments. Scientists determine vaccination status and compare positive COVID-19 test rates between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.
Multiple respected medical journals, including Pediatrics and the New England Journal of Medicine, have published studies using this same research approach after thorough expert review.
The blocked study used identical methods and found that vaccines reduced emergency room visits and hospital admissions among healthy adults by approximately 50 percent during the previous winter, according to The Washington Post, which initially reported the cancellation.
HHS officials declined to specify their exact concerns with the methodology but suggested that previous infections, patient behavior, and variations in healthcare-seeking patterns could influence outcomes.
However, the broader scientific community doesn’t share these worries, and numerous researchers have successfully employed this approach, according to Dr. Fiona Havers, an Atlanta physician who formerly worked at the CDC. She explained that the methodology is designed to account for healthcare-seeking differences, and prior infections shouldn’t significantly impact results given widespread coronavirus exposure among Americans.
While no research design is flawless, HHS officials haven’t suggested an alternative approach “that’s realistic and ethical for getting real-time estimates of how well vaccines are working each year,” Havers stated. She previously directed a CDC hospital surveillance network team focused on COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.
Public health advocates previously expressed concerns during President Donald Trump’s initial term that political appointees were attempting to influence MMWR publications.
These worries resurfaced after Trump’s return to office when MMWR publication was briefly halted. While it resumed, the publication has remained significantly reduced from its previous scope.
“Health care professionals rely on the MMWR for timely, objective and fact-based information about the nation’s public health,” stated U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who raised concerns when CDC communications were previously suspended.
“Muzzling scientists and doctors on how to prevent Americans from being hospitalized can have deadly consequences. The CDC must abandon plans to place a political gag order on this critical research,” Durbin said Wednesday.
