Kennedy seeks to expedite appeal of ruling that blocked his vaccine policies
The Trump administration has requested an expedited appeal of a federal court ruling that blocked a series of decisions on vaccines made by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including rescinding routine recommendations for immunizations against a half-dozen childhood diseases.
Kennedy announced in a social media post Friday that the administration had filed the motion to expedite appeal so that federal vaccine advisers could meet to decide whether to recommend shots before the fall flu season.
The move is the latest development in a lawsuit brought by six medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics. The suit contended that Kennedy and his appointees to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had made “arbitrary and capricious” changes to the childhood vaccine schedule.
It also argued that the panelists Kennedy appointed to the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, a panel of outside experts, did not have the qualifications to recommend vaccinations and that their decisions endangered the health of Americans.
The ruling, delivered March 16 by a federal judge in Massachusetts, temporarily blocked Kennedy’s policies while the trial continued. It froze all decisions made by the panelists Kennedy had appointed and prevented the committee from meeting as scheduled.
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“The 2026-2027 respiratory virus season (i.e., RSV, influenza, COVID) begins in the fall, and while the ACIP cannot act, no newly licensed or reformulated vaccine for those conditions can be added to the immunization schedule,” the administration argued in its motion, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Richard Hughes, a lawyer for the medical organizations, said in a statement that “we will oppose his motion to expedite appeal because we refuse to pave the way for his further destruction.”
Vaccine recommendations have historically been made by ACIP members after careful review of the benefits and potential risks, in a process that can take months or years. Last June, Kennedy fired all 17 previous members of the committee and named new ones, many of whom shared his skepticism of vaccines. The new panelists rescinded several recommendations for childhood shots.
Then, in January, bypassing the committee entirely, the acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, appointed by Kennedy, announced a new schedule for childhood vaccines, which cut the number of diseases against which children are routinely immunized to 11 from 17.
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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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