The acting head of the CDC, Jay Bhattacharya, has decided that a study on the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines is not fit for publication, because apparently the truth is optional when it comes to public health. The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that Bhattacharya blocked the research from appearing in the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, scheduled for March 19.

HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon offered the standard bureaucratic deflection: "Scientific reports are routinely reviewed at multiple levels to ensure they meet the highest standards before publication." The issue, according to HHS, was that Bhattacharya objected to the study's use of observational data to estimate vaccine effectiveness - specifically, calculating effectiveness based on whether vaccinated or unvaccinated patients showed up at hospitals or emergency departments with positive COVID-19 tests. This methodology, experts note, has been used for years to assess flu vaccines, including in a study published in the same MMWR on March 12. But Bhattacharya was not named acting director until after that flu study had already been accepted. Convenient timing.

The rejected study, first reported by The Washington Post, comes as the Trump administration seeks to downplay HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s efforts to roll back federal vaccine policies ahead of the midterm elections. Kennedy, who once called the COVID-19 shot "the deadliest vaccine ever made," has previously said the CDC would no longer recommend it for pregnant women and healthy children. An HHS official said Bhattacharya met with the study authors, but they declined to change their methodology. The official argued that prior infection, behavior, and differences in who seeks care can affect results - a valid point, but one that doesn't explain why the same methodology is fine for flu but not for COVID.

The CDC has been without a confirmed director since Susan Monarez was fired last August after clashing with Kennedy over vaccines - she lasted a month. President Trump recently nominated Erica Schwartz as his third pick to lead the agency. Meanwhile, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a letter to Bhattacharya accusing him of politicizing science and demanding documents about the CDC's scientific review process, including a list of all studies cleared for publication but held back since the start of the Trump administration. Because nothing says "trust the science" like burying it.