A federal judge has blocked Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s changes to the nation’s childhood vaccine schedule. The ruling freezes both the revised recommendations and actions taken by a newly reconstituted federal vaccine advisory panel.
U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Massachusetts issued the order Monday after major medical organizations challenged how the administration changed vaccine policy. The groups argued the government bypassed the long-standing process used to set national immunization guidance.
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Murphy agreed the administration did not follow the established procedure for changing vaccine recommendations.
“First, the Government bypassed ACIP to change the immunization schedules, which is both a technical, procedural failure itself and a strong indication of something more fundamentally problematic: an abandonment of the technical knowledge and expertise embodied by that committee,” Murphy wrote.
The order pauses the administration’s vaccine changes while the case proceeds.
Dispute over vaccine policy changes
Kennedy has pursued broad revisions to federal vaccine policy since becoming health secretary. Earlier this year, federal health officials reduced the number of diseases included in the routine childhood immunization schedule from 18 to 11.
The revised schedule removed recommendations that infants and children receive vaccines for several diseases, including hepatitis A, hepatitis B, RSV, dengue and certain forms of bacterial meningitis.
More than 200 medical and scientific organizations rejected the changes and said they would continue following the immunization schedule issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The lawsuit argues federal officials changed the schedule without relying on the CDC’s outside vaccine advisory panel — the group that reviews scientific evidence and recommends national vaccination policy.
Advisory panel actions paused
Murphy also blocked actions taken by advisory panel members Kennedy appointed after dismissing the committee’s previous membership.
Last year, Kennedy removed all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee and replaced them with new appointees. Several of those members have criticized vaccines, particularly mRNA coronavirus shots.
The judge’s order freezes votes taken by that group, including guidance advising Americans to consult a clinician before receiving a coronavirus vaccine and a vote dropping the recommendation that all newborns receive a hepatitis B shot.
The panel had been scheduled to meet this week in Atlanta, according to NBC News. Attorneys involved in the case say the ruling halts that meeting.
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Administration signals appeal
The Department of Health and Human Services said it plans to challenge the decision.
HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement to Straight Arrow News that the agency “looks forward to this judge’s decision being overturned just like his other attempts to keep the Trump administration from governing.”
Attorneys involved in the case say the dispute will likely move through the appeals process and could ultimately reach the Supreme Court.
