COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness study blocked from CDC journal is published in JAMA Network Open

The study, which used a methodology called "test-negative design," examined patients admitted to hospitals or visiting emergency rooms with respiratory illnesses, comparing COVID-19 test positivity rates between vaccinated and unvaccinated patients. Papers using the same methodology have been published in peer-reviewed journals including Pediatrics and the New England Journal of Medicine, according to the Associated Press.

The research was cleared by the CDC's Office of Science but was flagged by acting CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya, according to the agency's chief science officer, Althea Grant-Lenzy. Grant-Lenzy told the AP that Bhattacharya's decision did not prevent eventual publication, but required the authors to address his concerns; the authors were then free to submit the study to outside journals.

Bhattacharya has argued the methodology relies too heavily on assumptions and could produce results skewed by factors such as prior infections and differences in how patient groups seek care. Proponents of the design say it is built to account for those differences, that prior infection is a diminishing concern given widespread coronavirus exposure in the United States, and that HHS officials have not proposed a realistic alternative for obtaining real-time vaccine effectiveness estimates.