More than a week after a federal judge blocked major vaccine policy changes advanced by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Department of Justice had not filed an appeal as of Friday, leaving the status of federal vaccine guidance uncertain.
The administration has until May 15 to appeal U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy's March 16 order.
The ruling stayed Kennedy's January revisions to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's childhood immunization schedule, halted the appointments of 13 members he named to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, and froze votes taken by the reconstituted panel.
An HHS official said no final decision has been made on whether to appeal, as the administration considers its next steps following the ruling.
Murphy found that challengers were likely to succeed in arguing that the reconstitution of the immunization advisory committee and changes to the immunization schedule violated federal law.
The decision effectively restored prior federal guidance and sidelined the newly formed advisory panel.
The situation has contributed to uncertainty within federal public health leadership.
The CDC remains without a Senate-confirmed director after the White House missed a statutory deadline to nominate one.
Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, continues to oversee the agency in a limited capacity under delegated authority.
The nomination of surgeon general pick Casey Means has also stalled after a contentious Senate hearing.
Public health experts say the disruption could affect routine vaccine review processes.
They warn that delays may affect the development of seasonal recommendations for flu and COVID-19 vaccines.
"All the work, as far as I know, has ceased, putting us in a tremendous deficit in recommendations," said Dr. Jason Goldman, president of the American College of Physicians. "It's just horrifying to contemplate what damage has been done."
Kennedy has made significant changes to vaccine policymaking in the past year.
Those steps include replacing ACIP members and proposing changes to the childhood immunization schedule, actions that prompted a lawsuit from medical groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"From a doc's perspective, we've been in limbo for a year," said Dr. Amy Middleman, an adolescent medicine specialist in Cleveland. "We haven't had a process to look at the evidence. We haven't had experts vetting the evidence in a public forum."
If the ruling remains in place and the ACIP is unable to operate, Kennedy could attempt to issue vaccine recommendations directly.
Experts say prolonged delays could disrupt timelines for fall flu and COVID-19 guidance, which typically rely on months of committee review and public input.
"It's going to be so backlogged," Goldman said, "it's going to take an inordinate amount of time to get above water."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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