A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked most of the damage that anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has done to federal vaccine guidance in his time in office.
In a 45-page ruling that opens with a quote from science communicator Carl Sagan, US District Judge Brian Murphy issued a temporary injunction that blocks:
- The federal vaccine advisors Kennedy appointed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) after firing all 17 expert members. Almost all of Kennedy's new advisors hold anti-vaccine views, have questionable qualifications for being on the committee, and did not appear to go through standard vetting.
- Every vote those ACIP members have made to change federal vaccine guidance.
- Kennedy's dramatic overhaul of the CDC's childhood vaccine schedule in January, which dropped the number of recommended immunizations from 17 to 11, in line with Denmark, and was done without consulting ACIP.
The ruling stems from a lawsuit brought by the American Academy of Pediatrics, along with several other medical groups, against Kennedy. The groups challenged the legality of the unprecedented moves, which disregarded standard procedures and lacked the backing of scientific evidence.