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Judge blocks RFK Jr.'s CDC vaccine changes
Change
A federal judge issued a temporary injunction blocking most changes Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made to federal vaccine guidance and enjoining votes by his ACIP appointees.
Why it matters
US District Judge Brian Murphy issued a 45-page temporary injunction. The order blocks the ACIP appointees Kennedy named after firing all 17 prior expert members. The injunction enjoins every vote those ACIP members have made to change federal vaccine guidance. The order also blocks the January 2026 overhaul that reduced the childhood immunization schedule from 17 to 11 recommended immunizations, and plaintiffs include the American Academy of Pediatrics and several other medical groups challenging the moves under the Administrative Procedure Act.
Implications
- • Reconstituted ACIP appointees and their votes are barred from altering federal vaccine guidance during the injunction.
- • Implementation of the January 2026 reduction to the childhood immunization schedule is suspended.
- • Court-directed Administrative Procedure Act review applies to advisory changes to vaccine guidance.
Who is affected
- • CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) members
- • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine policymakers
- • Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s office
- • Pediatric and medical organizations involved in vaccination policy
Source
Topics
Law & Public Safety Court Rulings Compliance Health & Medicine Public Health