- Title: FILE: US judge blocks efforts to reshape childhood vaccine policy
- Date: 16th March 2026
- Summary: WASHINGTON DC, UNITED STATES (MARCH 16, 2026) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AT OVAL OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING: "As an example, you know, you've been seeing it and seeing it pretty big in Minnesota, $19 billion. But that's only for one little aspect of the fraud. It's $19 billion. And California, as they say, is 10
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- Keywords: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. U.S. Secretary of Health health vaccines
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: US
- Topics: Health/Medicine,North America
- Reuters ID: LVA003459516032026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A federal judge on Monday (March 16) blocked key parts of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s effort to reshape U.S. vaccine policy, including a move to reduce the number of shots routinely recommended for children.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston sided with the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups, which said health regulators had acted unlawfully to carry out Kennedy's agenda of upending immunization policies and warned the changes will reduce vaccination rates and harm public health.
The ruling dealt a significant setback for the reduced childhood vaccination schedule championed by Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist appointed last year by President Donald Trump to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Murphy said that for decades, the United States had been focused on the eradication and reduction of diseases using vaccines, which were developed through "a method scientific in nature and codified into law through procedural requirements." But he said that under Kennedy, the government "has disregarded those methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its actions."
The judge, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, also blocked Kennedy's 13 appointees to a key vaccine advisory panel from continuing to serve in their positions ahead of a meeting set to take place on March 18-19 and upended votes they had previously taken to reshape vaccine policies.
Vaccine makers have grown increasingly wary of U.S. vaccine policy, including the makers of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna. Companies that make other shots on the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule include Merck, Sanofi and GSK.
As Kennedy's policies have taken hold, pediatricians have faced parents increasingly skeptical about vaccines and medical treatments, while nearly a dozen states have begun considering legal changes that would relax vaccine requirements for school enrollment.
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