'The View' abruptly ends fiery segment with conservative guest who is not COVID vaccinated: 'I just don't think we should allow this misinformation'

"The View" abruptly cut to commercial Tuesday amid an intense interview with a conservative guest who was defending her decision not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

What happened?

Conservative Jedediah Bila, a former Fox News host, appeared on "The View" to promote her new book, "Dear Hartley." Sometime during the segment, co-host Joy Behar said it was time to "address the elephant in the room."

Behar was referring to the fact that Bila was not present in the studio. In fact, Bila was not permitted to appear on-set because she is not vaccinated, and as Behar noted, ABC has a "very strict policy" that everyone in its studio must be vaccinated against COVID-19.

"Why didn't you get it?" Behar asked, after repeating guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that people vaccinated against COVID-19 are significantly less likely to be hospitalized from COVID complications or die from COVID.

"I am not a candidate for this vaccine," Bila responded, explaining she has received a medical exemption from her doctor, which she said was endorsed by other doctors.

"I also have sky-high, multi-tier, multi-faceted natural immunity, very, very high, that has also been proven, it has been shown, and it has been substantiated by letters from these doctors," Bila explained. "So, for me, personally, this vaccine poses a greater risk than a benefit. I am also not a risk to any of you."

"My point about all of this is: I am not anti-vax. What I really want is for people to make these decisions for themselves," Bila added. As she endorsed personal choice, audio picked up one of the show's co-hosts loudly groaning dismissively in the background.

"However, I do oppose mandates," Bila continued. "I oppose them on the fact that — let's look at the science. This is a vaccine created to prevent severity of disease and to prevent hospitalization ... but the vaccine does not prevent you from getting COVID and does not prevent you from transmitting COVID."

That's when the fireworks began.

"Oh, my goodness!" Behar objected. "No, that's not so. C'mon! You've been at Fox TV too long."

Bila appealed to the CDC itself, explaining the CDC recommends vaccinated people wear face masks indoors because being vaccinated does not prevent someone from transmitting COVID.

Co-host Sunny Hostin then interjected.

"You know what Jed, you know what Jed: 762,000 people have died from COVID," Hostin said. "We've been friends a long time, I just don't understand why you would choose to prioritize your personal freedom over health and safety of others."

"I just don't really think we should allow this kind of misinformation," Hostin continued. "We've had the United States surgeon general debunk everything that you've just said. And I just don't think we should allow this misinformation on our air."

Then co-host Whoopi Goldberg intervened, abruptly ending the tense exchange.

"This should sound very familiar to you, Jed, this should sound very familiar to you: We have to go to break," Goldberg said.

Who is right and who is wrong?

The CDC re-implemented its indoor face mask guidance regardless of vaccination status over the summer in areas of the U.S. with high community transmission precisely because the agency said that being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 does not necessarily stop someone from transmitting the virus.

The CDC's website currently states:

For the Delta variant, early data indicate vaccinated and unvaccinated persons infected with Delta have similar levels of viral RNA and culturable virus detected, indicating that some vaccinated people infected with the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 may be able to transmit the virus to others.

The CDC also admits, as Bila said, that being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 does not prevent someone from becoming infected.

"Since vaccines are not 100% effective at preventing infection, some people who are fully vaccinated will still get COVID-19," the CDC states.

Unfortunately, the exact number of "breakthrough cases" is not known because of poor data collection. The CDC's most recent data indicate that through Sept. 4, the U.S. experienced more than 100 breakthrough cases per 100,000 people.

However, that data is not entirely reliable because it is based only on 16 states, or approximately 30% of the population. The true breakthrough case rate, then, is plausibly higher.