A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked federal health officials from cutting the number of vaccines recommended for every child, and said U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. likely violated federal procedures in revamping a key vaccine advisory committee.
The decision halted an order by Kennedy 鈥� in January 鈥� to end broad recommendations for all children to be vaccinated against , rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis and RSV.
It also stopped a meeting of a Kennedy-appointed vaccine advisory committee, which was set to convene this week in Atlanta.
The judge’s order, however, is not the final word. The blocks are temporary, pending either a trial or a decision for summary judgment.
Federal health officials indicated they planned to appeal.
鈥淗HS looks forward to this judge鈥檚 decision being overturned just like his other attempts to keep the Trump administration from governing,鈥� said Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew Nixon.
The order issued Monday is the latest development in a lawsuit filed last July by the American Academy of Pediatrics and some other medical groups. The lawsuit in federal court in Boston originally focused on Kennedy鈥檚 decision to stop recommending COVID-19 vaccinations for most children and pregnant women.
The lawsuit was updated as Kennedy took more steps that alarmed medical societies, causing the plaintiffs to ask Judge Brian E. Murphy to take steps to address those policy changes too.
For example, the plaintiffs to stop the scaling back of the nation鈥檚 childhood vaccination schedule. They also asked the court to look at Kennedy鈥檚 actions concerning the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises public health officials on what vaccines to recommend to doctors and patients.
Kennedy, a leading anti-vaccine activist before becoming the nation鈥檚 top health official, fired the entire 17-member panel last year and replaced it with a group that includes several anti-vaccine voices.
Murphy, who was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden, said Kennedy鈥檚 reconstitution of ACIP likely violated federal law. He ordered the appointments 鈥� and all decisions made by the reformed committee 鈥� put on hold.
The ACIP was scheduled to meet this week to discuss COVID-19 vaccine safety, among other issues, but that gathering was postponed, officials said.
鈥淎CIP as currently constituted cannot meet,鈥� said Richard Hughes IV, an attorney representing the AAP. 鈥淗ow can a committee meet without nearly the entirety of its membership?鈥�
Jason Schwartz, a Yale University vaccine policy expert who has studied the committee, called the halting of an ACIP meeting for legal reasons 鈥渦nprecedented鈥� in its 62-year existence.
Hughes called the judge’s order 鈥渁 momentous step toward restoring science-based vaccine policy,鈥� and he was echoed by leaders of several doctors’ groups and public health organizations.
When Trump administration officials overhauled the childhood vaccine schedule, they said it wouldn’t result in families losing access to them or cause insurers to stop covering them. But it left many Americans confused, as doctors’ groups, public health organizations and many states continued to recommend licensed vaccines, said Dr. Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Several doctors鈥� groups said the changes were not based on good evidence, and advised doctors and patients to that was previously in place. Health officials in 30 states have rejected at least some of the new recommendations.
The judge’s order should bring clarity, Racine said.
鈥淚f anyone has any questions about what鈥檚 the appropriate vaccine schedule for their children, the best thing to do is to talk to their pediatricians,鈥� he said.
Schwartz said he expected federal health officials to keep expressing 鈥渢heir deep skepticism regarding the importance of vaccination鈥� and to keep embracing “unsupported vaccine safety allegations.鈥�
After the ruling, one of Kennedy’s appointees to the committee, Dr. Robert Malone, urged the Trump administration to keep pursuing Kennedy’s vaccine policy changes.
鈥淎 district court order is a delay, not a defeat,鈥� he wrote Monday on Substack.
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