By Withholding Vaccine Data, the Federal Government Proliferates Its Antivaccine Narrative

This is part of a short series with leaders of medical professional organizations to gain insights about the ramifications of the revised charter as well as commentary about the federal government’s suppression of COVID-19 vaccine data.

Just this past week, there were news reports that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Acting Director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, canceled the publication of a study on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in the agency’s publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, back in March.¹

The study results found that vaccination cut the likelihood of emergency visits due to COVID-19 by 50% and hospitalizations by 55%.²

The vaccine narrative has been a battle between ideology and vaccine data, with the former being the theme of the current federal government.

“As we have seen in this past year, it is once again attempts by Secretary Kennedy and the administration to have mis- and disinformation, to hide the truth, to censor people who are trying to put out true, accurate information,” said Jason M. Goldman, MD, MACP, immediate past president of the American College of Physicians. “We saw it with their attempt in the Annals of Internal Medicine, telling them to retract a study out of Denmark showing no harm from aluminum and vaccines. And they tried to get that study retracted and removed from the journal, but our editor in chief said, ‘Absolutely not.’ It was a valid study, and it was published.”

“We need a functional vaccine committee that presents the data, the facts, and the evidence, free from bias, free from predetermined notions of outcome, but looking at where the science takes us and following the process so we can have the best, safest, most appropriate recommendations. We should never be hiding information that does not fit any one individual's narrative; we need to have the truth come out,” Goldman said.

As mis- and disinformation appear to now be endemic, clinician counseling with patients can be an uphill battle.

“It is a challenge to try and counsel and educate patients. We have guidelines from several societies. We have guidelines from previous years that are still valid, but what we have to always do is lead with authenticity—be honest with patients. Tell them what we know, tell them what we don't know, explain where our gaps in knowledge are, but understand that vaccines have been around for a long time,” Goldman said. “The science on many vaccines has been proven safe and effective. It is critical for patients to understand the importance of why we vaccinate: to prevent disease, to prevent hospitalization and death…. The government and society need to take politics out of science, and we need to focus on the process to make sure that we understand how it works, why it works, and why these vaccines are so important.”

References
1. Sun LH. CDC won’t publish report showing COVID shots cut likelihood of hospital visits. Washington Post. April 22, 2026. Accessed April 22, 2026. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/04/22/covid-vaccine-report-blocked-cdc-mmwr/
2. Mandavilli A. The C.D.C. canceled the publication of a study showing the benefits of COVID vaccines. New York Times. April 22, 2026. Accessed April 22, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04/22/us/trump-news-updates#section-640670104