Federal Judge Blocks HHS Changes to Vaccine Schedule

A federal judge on Monday in Massachusetts blocked some of the changes Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. made to the childhood vaccine schedule.

The Opinion: US District Judge Brian Murphy issued his opinion in the ruling, saying, "There is a method to how these decisions historically have been made," and that "Unfortunately, the Government has disregarded those methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its actions." He said the decision to update the vaccine schedule in January "bypassed" the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) by not heeding the committee's "technical knowledge and expertise." Murphy also pointed to newly-appointed members of the ACIP, saying "even under the most generous reading, only six appear to have any meaningful experience in vaccines."

ACIP: The advisory board had to postpone a meeting that was set for this week in Atlanta following Murphy's ruling. All appointments and decisions from the committee will be on hold pending a summary judgement or trial.

Decisions Invalidated: All the votes made by the newly appointed advisors are invalidated following the ruling. Some of these decisions included banning "thimerosal (thiomersal) from flu vaccines; ending the recommendation for the combination measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) and chickenpox vaccine; and the end of the universal birth dose recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine."

HHS Response: Department spokesman Andrew Nixon said, "HHS looks forward to this judge's decision being overturned just like his other attempts to keep the Trump administration from governing."

Third-Country Deportations: On the same day as Murphy's HHS ruling, the US Court of Appeals for the 1^st Circuit overturned one of his previous rulings. Murphy last month ruled that the Trump administration must first try to send deported migrants back to their country of origin, allowing for them to contest the deportation if their home country is not a viable option. The 1^st Circuit, in a 2-1 decision, ruled that deportations to third countries can continue.

How The Media Covered It: Some outlets on the left, like Politico (Lean Left bias) and NBC (Lean Left), tended to frame the ruling as "a blow to Kennedy's efforts to remake U.S. vaccine policy to more closely reflect his view," adding that Kennedy's view is "contradicted by myriad scientific studies." NBC also noted that Kennedy "promised to restore trust" within public health agencies, adding that experts say his "controversial policies have created confusion among pediatricians and contributed to more distrust of childhood vaccination." Others, like Just The News (Lean Right), highlighted criticism from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, saying Blanche "slammed" Murphy for the "controversial order." The article also noted the ruling came "just hours after" Murphy's ruling over third-country deportations was overturned.

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