Judge blocks parts of RFK Jr.'s vaccine agenda, including new childhood vaccine schedule
Updated on: March 16, 2026 / 8:04 PM EDT / CBS News
TL;DR
- A federal judge blocked changes to the recommended childhood vaccine schedule.
- The ruling was a setback for the Trump administration's efforts to overhaul federal vaccine policy.
- U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ruled against HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's allies.
- The lawsuit challenged the agency's decisions as arbitrary and capricious.
- Kennedy had previously fired all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
- The number of recommended immunizations was reportedly cut from 17 to 11.
- The judge found that Kennedy's moves violated federal law and bypassed evidence-based recommendations.
- The ruling halts a government memo enacting the new vaccine schedule and appointments of new ACIP members.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics celebrated the decision as a step to restoring scientific decision-making.