Public-Health Groups Sue To Block RFK Jr.’s ‘Dangerous’ New Childhood Vaccine Schedule

The American Academy of Pediatrics is among several public health groups that have jointly sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to vacate what they call the “dangerous” changes recently made to the agency’s recommended childhood vaccine schedule. The group also alleges the health agency’s immunization advisory board based its decisions without a “reasoned explanation.”The group, which also includes the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, also accused the Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., of “inappropriately” influencing the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, by appointing members who share his long-held skepticism of vaccines.The lawsuit singled out HHS’ “unlawful” January 5 decision to revise its childhood and adolescent immunization schedule of vaccines for American children, narrowing the recommendation of rotavirus, influenza, meningococcal, and hepatitis A vaccines from all children to limited categories of high-risk infants and children, or to cases left to a physician’s discretion.“Defendants failed to consider important factors such as whether the changes to the Childhood Schedule would lead to increases in serious illness and death due to vaccine-preventable illnesses, or increased burden on the American healthcare system, or increased financial burden on American families,” the group of health organizations alleges in its complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts.Retsef Levi (C) discusses the findings of a work group regarding COVID-19 vaccines during a meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on September 19, 2025. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty ImagesThe lawsuit also called for the court to declare Mr. Kennedy’s wholesale restructuring of the ACIP panel “unlawful” and to halt its next public meeting, scheduled for February 25, citing an “overabundance of false and misleading misinformation disseminated” at three prior ACIP meetings.The lawsuit demanded the court set aside three of ACIP’s votes, all of which have been approved by the CDC, that removed a recommended dose of Hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth, reclassified the Covid vaccine as a matter of “shared clinical decision-making” for those under age 65, and barred the use of the preservative thimerosal in influenza vaccines. The HHS and CDC did not respond to requests for comment from The Washington Post, which was the first to report on the lawsuit. Last week, Mr. Kennedy appointed two new members to ACIP, both obstetrician-gynecologists who have recently expressed skepticism over the vaccines. One appointee, Kimberly Biss, a physician based in St. Petersburg, Florida, called the vaccine industry “disgusting” and described herself as an “anti-vaxxer.”Ms. Biss said during a 2022 podcast interview that, “prior to COVID, I was not an anti-vaxxer, but I am now because I’ve gone down the rabbit hole, and I would love to be able someday to meet Robert F. Kennedy Jr.”A slide showing the changes proposed by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to the MMR combination vaccine schedule and dosage intervals is seen during a meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on September 18, 2025. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty ImagesThe other new ACIP member, Dr. Andrew Urato, a Boston-area OB/GYN, said during a 2025 podcast interview that he believed there is an “over-intervention in medicine, too much testing, too many drugs, too many vaccines.”With these two appointments, ten of the 14 current ACIP members have anti-vaccine views that align with Mr. Kennedy’s, while seven “lack the relevant expertise and credentials required by the ACIP Charter,” the lawsuit alleged.In December, President Trump issued a memorandum calling for Mr. Kennedy to review best practices “from peer, developed countries for core childhood vaccination recommendations.” The new childhood vaccine schedule now aligns with that of Denmark’s, which recommends shots for 10 diseases compared with 18 in the United States in 2024.

Public-Health Groups Sue To Block RFK Jr.’s ‘Dangerous’ New Childhood Vaccine Schedule

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