Judge temporarily blocks key parts of RFK, Jr.’s effort to overhaul U.S. childhood vaccines
A federal judge on Monday issued a stay on the CDC’s move to reduce the number of routinely recommended childhood vaccines
Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
On Monday, a federal judge halted significant parts of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s extensive revisions to the U.S. vaccine policy. This decision aligned with six medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), that had legally contested Kennedy’s changes.
Judge Brian Murphy of the U.S. District Court in Boston imposed a stay on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) decision to reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccines. The CDC had previously decreased the number of diseases children should be vaccinated against from 17 to 11, a move made in January that drew widespread criticism from public health professionals for potentially endangering children’s health.
“For the children and families of this nation, they owe Judge Murphy immense gratitude. He has brought clarity to vaccine recommendations that were previously unclear,” stated Andrew Racine, president of the AAP, during a press conference following the court’s decision.
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Additionally, the judge halted the appointments of 13 members to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an independent vaccine advisory board. The appointments likely violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Kennedy, in one of his initial actions as Secretary of Health and Human Services, had dismissed all former ACIP members and replaced them. Murphy’s ruling also temporarily nullifies all decisions made by Kennedy-appointed panelists. The medical groups’ lawsuit argued that Kennedy’s ACIP appointees lacked the necessary qualifications to recommend vaccine policies.
“We have consistently maintained that vaccine recommendations for the nation’s children and families must be founded on scientific evidence,” Racine emphasized.
The ACIP was scheduled to convene on Wednesday to discuss vaccine policy recommendations. However, following the judge’s decision, the AAP’s lead counsel questioned whether the meeting would proceed.
“The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) anticipates this judge’s decision will be overturned, similar to his previous efforts to prevent the Trump administration from governing,” remarked HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon in a statement.
Editor’s Note (3/16/26): This is a developing story and will be updated.
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