HHS Vaccine Recommendations Struck Down by Judicial Ruling

A US district court in Massachusetts has blocked the federal government from implementing a series of vaccine-related policy decisions made over the past year by US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) leadership, according to a report in The New York Times this afternoon.¹

By pausing those decisions, the court has effectively prevented the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) from holding a scheduled meeting later this week. The meeting was scheduled to be held this Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the COVID-19 vaccines, including safety and long COVID.

The judicial decision places an immediate hold on broader changes to national vaccine policy that had been set in motion over the past year.¹ The ruling was delivered by US District Court Judge Brian Murphy in response to a lawsuit filed by 6 medical organizations, according to the report in The New York Times.¹

The initial lawsuit was filed last year by 6 medical organizations and led by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The groups argue that Kennedy and his appointed panelists made sweeping alterations to the childhood immunization schedule without following the established evidence-based review process that traditionally guides ACIP recommendations.²

"Today's court ruling is an important step toward protecting Americans' access to lifesaving vaccines. Infectious disease doctors remain hopeful that adherence to a scientifically valid process in determining vaccine policy will ultimately be restored. Secretary Kennedy has caused needless confusion and distrust in vaccine guidance, and unless stopped, his actions will continue to result in preventable disease outbreaks," Ronald G. Nahass, MD, MHCM, FIDSA, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said in a statement.

Amicus Brief

In February, an amicus brief from scholars and professional organizations—including the American Thoracic Society and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology—was filed to support AAP’s lawsuit, according to further reporting by Contagion^®.²

The brief included the following:

• Changing vaccinations from recommended to shared clinical decision-making (SCDM)

"The public health difference between placing a vaccine on the routine schedule and SCDM is stark. Placing a vaccine on the routine schedule does not create a mandate, but the routine schedule ensures that immunizations will be part of the preventive standard of practice for children and the default approach. SCDM has the opposite effect."

• Changes in routine vaccination that ignore substantial scientific evidence

"Defendants have upended the longstanding routine pediatric immunization schedule by forgoing the extensive research on which the schedule rests, abandoning the evidence-based deliberation process that has long guided ACIP's work, and, as a result, disregarding the weight of the evidence concerning the Routine Vaccination Changes."

• Changes in routine vaccination that threaten public health

"The lifesaving public health achievements made possible by routine childhood immunizations in the United States risk being undone.... There is no evidence that Defendants considered the impact of eliminating routine status for multiple childhood vaccines on any of these critical components of our public health ecosystem."²

"Recent federal actions weaken the nation's routine vaccine recommendations, which protect people, particularly children, from serious diseases," Anne Markus, PhD, JD, MHS, chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at George Washington University, said in a statement. "We are asking the court to consider the science backing the vaccine recommendations that were in place in the early months of 2025. Restoring that vaccine schedule would save millions of lives."²

As this is a developing story, check back for new updates around this news as well as to see whether the ACIP will hold its meeting and whether there is any additional fallout from the judicial ruling.

References
1. Mandavilli A. Judge strikes down Kennedy’s vaccine policies. New York Times. March 16, 2026. Accessed March 16, 2026.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/health/childhood-vaccines-lawsuit-kennedy.html
2. Bender K. Friend of court filing supports AAP lawsuit against HHS vaccine policy changes. Contagion. February 11, 2026. Accessed March 16, 2026. https://www.contagionlive.com/view/friend-of-court-filing-supports-aap-lawsuit-against-hhs-vaccine-policy-changes