CDC study shows COVID shot benefits; Trump official blocks release

Study found shots cut urgent care and hospitalization by about 50% in healthy adults. Under anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been blocked from publishing a scientifically vetted study finding significant health benefits from this season’s COVID-19 vaccines, according to reporting by The Washington Post. The move adds to longstanding concern among health experts that chaos and political interference under Kennedy—a staunch anti-vaccine activist who has long falsely maligned COVID-19 vaccines—is deeply undermining science at federal agencies and beyond. CDC scientists and insiders told the Post that the COVID-19 vaccine study went through the agency’s standard scientific review process and was slated for publication on March 19 in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). But acting CDC director Jay Bhattacharya blocked the scheduled publication and is holding the study, claiming he has concerns about its methodology. Agency scientists talked with the Post on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from the Trump administration. According to a summary the Post obtained, t