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A federal court in Massachusetts has blocked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from changing longstanding vaccine policy by reducing the number of childhood immunizations.
Judge Brian E. Murphy granted in part a preliminary injunction to stop HHS from reducing the number of childhood vaccinations and stayed the appointments of 13 members on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) made by Kennedy. The court also halted all votes taken by ACIP.
The ruling is a win for the American Academy of Pediatrics and other plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit against Kennedy.
Dr. Andrew P. Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said of Monday's ruling, "Today's ruling is an historic and welcomed outcome for children, families, pediatricians and communities across the United States. For many years the American Academy of Pediatrics, in collaboration with partners in the federal government, recommended a schedule of immunizations to promote children's health and development. Today's ruling marks an important step toward restoring scientific decision-making that is at the heart of that partnership.”
WHY THIS MATTERS
The court said there has historically been a scientific method on how vaccine decisions are made that is codified into law through procedural requirements.
“Unfortunately, the Government has disregarded those methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its actions,” the ruling said.
The government bypassed ACIP to change the immunization schedules and also removed all appointed members of ACIP and replaced them without undertaking any of the rigorous screening that has been part of the selection process for decades, Murphy said.
The court concluded that the plaintiffs would likely succeed in showing that the reconstitution of ACIP and the January 2026 changes to the childhood immunization schedule violate the Administrative Procedure Act.
THE LARGER TREND
Plaintiffs filed the lawsuit on July 7, 2025, originally based on changes to recommendations on who should receive COVID-19 vaccinations.
In February, 15 states sued over the new vaccine policy that eliminated seven childhood immunizations from the vaccine schedule.
RFK Jr., "an anti-vaccine activist," and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stripped seven childhood vaccines of their universally recommended status in favor of "senseless complexity that will make children sicker and strain state resources," the lawsuit said.
In June 2025, Kennedy fired all 17 ACIP voting members and replaced them with a majority of his own "anti-vaccine acolytes," according to the lawsuit filed in federal court for the Northern District of California.
Earlier this month, HHS and the CDC announced the appointment of two new members to ACIP. Both are physicians who have specialized in pediatrics.
HHS said these appointments reflected the commitment of Kennedy to transparency, rigorous science and diverse clinical expertise in guiding immunization policies.
ON THE RECORD
Angela Botticella, managing director of the Governors Public Health Alliance, a nonpartisan alliance of 15 governors, said by statement: "Today's ruling affirms that major changes to vaccine policy cannot be made behind closed doors, without a transparent, science-based review process. Harm has already been caused because of the disruption to long-standing public health guidance, upending the best practices for clinicians, schools, families, and the state systems responsible for protecting children's health."
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org