CDC blocks publication of vaccine study

After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) pulled a report supporting the COVID-19 vaccine from its flagship Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), questions are being raised about whether the publication will continue. The Washington Post reported (9 April) that NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, who is also acting Director of the CDC, had delayed publication of a study on the COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness in the MMWR. Bhattacharya said he had concerns about the study’s design for assessing how well the vaccine works at preventing hospitalisation and death, and subsequently raised questions about the peer review process for the publication — and more broadly across the publishing system. On 22 April, the Post reported that MMWR had outright rejected the paper.