Wednesday, February 25, 2026-More than a dozen U.S. states have filed a multistate lawsuit against the Trump administration and federal health agencies in an effort to overturn sweeping changes to the national childhood vaccine schedule issued in January 2026.
The complaint, brought primarily by 15 Democratic‑led states and their attorneys general, argues that the revised recommendations — which significantly roll back universal guidance for vaccines against diseases such as influenza, rotavirus, hepatitis A and B, meningococcal disease, RSV, and COVID‑19 — undermine established public health standards and put children’s health at risk. These changes now suggest that many vaccines be administered only under a “shared clinical decision‑making” model rather than as routine immunizations for all children.
At the heart of the legal challenge is the assertion that the administration’s decision was not grounded in sound science or medical consensus, and that it followed an “unlawful” overhaul of the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is named as a defendant, along with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after he dismissed longtime vaccine experts from ACIP and installed new members with views at odds with mainstream public health guidance. The states contend that these actions bypassed regular scientific review and violated federal administrative procedures.
State officials argue the revised schedule will confuse families, drain state health resources, and increase the risk of outbreaks of preventable diseases, forcing states to spend more to protect public health and revise their own immunization policies.
They also warn that reduced vaccination rates could lead to rising cases of once‑controlled illnesses. The federal government, however, has dismissed the lawsuit as a political stunt, defending the changes as common‑sense public health policy aligned with other developed nations. The case is poised to escalate as courts weigh the balance between federal authority and states’ responsibility to protect the health of their residents.
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