Judge halts HHS vaccine policies

A Boston federal judge temporarily blocked federal health officials from lowering the number of vaccines recommended for children. The judge also ruled Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. likely violated federal procedures in reconstituting a federal committee overseeing vaccine policy. The ruling stops the HHS order to end broad recommendations for all children to receive vaccinations against the flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A and B, some forms of meningitis and RSV, and stopped the vaccine advisory panel meeting scheduled on March 18 to continue as planned. Federal health officials say they will appeal the decision. Medical groups initiated the lawsuit against Kennedy. (MedPage Today article, 3/16/26)