Judge Blocks Government’s Vaccine Recommendation Changes Over Procedural Violations
A federal judge has temporarily blocked federal health officials from reducing recommended childhood vaccinations and from proceeding with a newly appointed vaccine advisory committee. The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by medical groups challenging Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decisions to scale back vaccine recommendations and reconstitute the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The judge found that Kennedy likely violated federal procedures in revamping the ACIP, which advises on vaccine recommendations, and ordered that the new appointments and any decisions made by the reformed committee be put on hold. Federal health officials indicated plans to appeal the temporary block, which is pending further legal proceedings.
John Q. Hosedrinker