C.D.C. cancels publication of study showing benefits of COVID vaccines
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director and acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), arrives to testify before a U.S. House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee on March 17, two days before the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report was set to publish. The report included information related to the efficacy of the COVID vaccine, and how it reduced illness and hospitalizations by 50 percent or more. REUTERS file photo
The New York Times
The acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has canceled the publication of a study that found that the Covid vaccine sharply cut the odds of hospitalizations and emergency visits last winter, a Health Department spokesman said.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who has been overseeing the agency’s operations in the absence of a director, objected to the study’s design, saying it painted an inaccurate picture of the vaccine’s effectiveness.
The study, conducted by C.D.C. scientists, calculated the effectiveness of Covid shots by looking at the vaccination status of people who had sought care at hospitals and emergency rooms. It found that vaccination cut the likelihood of emergency visits due to Covid by 50 percent and of hospitalizations by 55 percent, according to a summary of the study viewed by The New York Times.
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