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U.S. officials stop publication of COVID vaccine effectiveness study

By
Published  April 24, 2026 2:58pm MST
Coronavirus Vaccine
FOX Local
article

FILE-A vile of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is injected into the arm of a patient by a pharmacist at Saint Francis Hospital in Roslyn, New York on January 14, 2021. (Photo by Steve Pfost/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

The Brief

    • Health and Human Services officials are questioning the methodology used in a COVID vaccine study.
    • The report, which was slated to appear in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, in part examines vaccination rates among people and how it ties into hospital visits.

U.S. health officials halted the publication of a study centered on whether the COVID-19 vaccine prevented adults from becoming sick enough to require them to visit the hospital. 

The Associated Press reported that one method scientists have studied COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness is by concentrating on sick individuals who were taken to hospitals or visited emergency rooms. 

Researchers evaluate whether patients were vaccinated and then measure the odds of a positive COVID-19 test among vaccinated patients compared to those individuals who were not vaccinated. 

Why did health officials stop the publication of the COVID vaccine study?

Dig deeper:

A Department of Health and Human Services' spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed to The Associated Press the decision to stop the publication, referencing a disagreement about the study's methodology.

The research paper was scheduled to appear in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s publication. 

RELATED: CDC ends universal COVID vaccine recommendation, leaves decision to patients

Meanwhile, the COVID study concluded that the vaccine cut ER visits and hospitalizations among otherwise healthy adults by about half this past winter, the AP reported, citing The Washington Post, which first reported the cancellation. 

Health and Human Services officials did not say exactly why that methodology was a problem in this instance but argued that prior infection, behavior, and differences in those who seek care can affect results. 

RELATED: FDA expands warning about rare heart risk with COVID vaccines

In President Donald Trump’s first administration, public health advocates raised concerns that political candidates were attempting to control what was published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 

And in 2025, those concerns were restored when Trump returned to the White House and publication of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report was temporarily suspended. The publication returned but has remained a condensed version of what it used to be. 

The Source: Information for this story was provided by The Associated Press. This story was reported from Washington, D.C. 


 

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