Federal Judge Blocks Kennedy’s Childhood Vaccine Schedule and Advisers

A federal judge in Boston on Monday blocked the changes Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made to the childhood vaccine schedule and halted the work of the federal vaccine advisory panel he rebuilt, finding the government likely broke federal law. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy issued the order in a case brought by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups, CBS News and Healthcare Dive reported.

According to CBS News, the order blocks a government memo that put the new childhood schedule in place, the appointments of 13 new members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and all votes those members took. Healthcare Dive described the order as covering the January changes by HHS and the CDC, which narrowed the shots universally recommended for U.S. children from 17 to 11, and all decisions of the advisory committee since Kennedy reconstituted it last year. The order is temporary and holds the actions in place while the case proceeds, Healthcare Dive reported.

Both outlets reported the background. Kennedy fired all 17 members of the committee, which has advised the CDC on vaccine schedules since 1964, and replaced them. CBS said the revised schedule recommends some vaccines, hepatitis A and B among them, mainly for children in high-risk groups.

In the ruling, Murphy wrote that the government had disregarded the methods by which such decisions historically have been made. As quoted by CBS, he said the government “has disregarded those methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its actions.” Healthcare Dive reported that Murphy found a “substantial likelihood” that the new panel does not comply with governing law, and that its members “appear distinctly unqualified” for the committee’s job of evaluating vaccines. CBS quoted him as writing that “even under the most generous reading, only six appear to have any meaningful experience in vaccines.”

On the schedule, Healthcare Dive reported, Murphy found the January change likely unlawful because HHS bypassed the advisory committee, which he called a “technical, procedural failure” reflecting an “abandonment of the technical knowledge and expertise embodied by that committee.” The plaintiffs argued the department’s decisions were arbitrary and capricious, CBS reported.

The advisory committee’s meeting planned for later this week will not go forward, Healthcare Dive reported, and CBS cited an HHS official who confirmed the postponement. The order leaves unclear when the panel will next meet, according to Healthcare Dive.

The administration’s response was immediate. HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon told Healthcare Dive that “HHS looks forward to this judge’s decision being overturned.” CBS quoted an HHS spokesman saying the same, that the ruling would be overturned “just like his other attempts to keep the Trump administration from governing.”

Medical groups welcomed the order. Dr. Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, called it a step toward restoring scientific decision-making to federal vaccine policy, CBS reported. Richard Hughes, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the judge “recognized that the actions of Secretary Kennedy and [the committee] are not grounded in science and that they are destructive,” according to Healthcare Dive. Hughes told reporters on a call that next steps could be determined within about a month and a half.