CDC Vaccine Report Delayed as Trump Administration Faces Criticism Over COVID Data

Washington Post reports postponement of study on vaccine effectiveness; Italian infectious disease expert Matteo Bassetti criticizes U.S. health leadership

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are reported to have delayed the publication of scientific findings showing significant benefits of COVID-19 vaccines in reducing hospitalizations and complications, amid criticism over the handling of public health data under the Trump administration.

According to the Washington Post, which cites two scientists familiar with the decision, the CDC postponed a report indicating that COVID vaccines halved the likelihood of emergency room visits and hospital admissions among healthy adults during the past winter.

The report had been scheduled for publication on March 19 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, its primary scientific bulletin, but was ultimately not released as planned.

The decision has raised concern among current and former officials, who warn that evidence highlighting vaccine effectiveness may be minimized due to its contrast with positions expressed by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long-standing critic of vaccination policies.

The controversy has also drawn reactions from Italy. Matteo Bassetti, an Italian infectious disease specialist who heads the Infectious Diseases Unit at San Martino Hospital in Genoa, criticized the decision and the broader direction of U.S. health governance.

“When you put anti-vaccine and conspiracy theorists in charge of healthcare, these are the results,” Bassetti said. “It is scientific censorship; they are now scraping the bottom of the barrel.”

The White House has not issued a public comment on the report cited by the Washington Post.

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