A federal judge in Boston who blocked major parts of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s sweeping moves to upend U.S. immunization policies has already drawn the ire of President Donald Trump’s administration for numerous rulings impeding his policies in other cases.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy on Monday (March 16, 2026) sided with medical groups who argued that Kennedy and the agencies he oversees unlawfully reshaped federal policies in ways that will increase barriers to getting vaccinated, fuel distrust in shots and lower immunization rates.
The Judge rejected a move by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce the number of shots routinely recommended for children and ruled against Mr. Kennedy’s disbanding and reconstituting of a key vaccine advisory committee, prompting it to postpone a meeting set to begin Wednesday.
Mr. Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has cast doubt on the safety and efficacy of vaccines contrary to scientific evidence, was appointed by the Republican president last year as the U.S. government’s top health official. Kennedy’s critics have said his actions on vaccines and other areas will undermine public health.
