Overview
- Filed in the Northern District of California, the coalition includes 14 attorneys general led by California and Arizona plus Pennsylvania’s governor, naming HHS, the CDC, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and CDC acting director Jay Bhattacharya as defendants.
- The complaint seeks to void a Jan. 5 CDC memo that downgraded seven shots—rotavirus, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza, COVID-19, and RSV—from universal recommendation to high‑risk or shared clinical decision-making.
- Plaintiffs also challenge Secretary Kennedy’s 2025 removal and replacement of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, alleging violations of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and ACIP’s charter after a reconstituted panel reversed newborn hepatitis B guidance in December.
- HHS defends the changes as within the secretary’s authority and consistent with policies in peer countries such as Denmark, dismissing the multistate action as a publicity stunt.
- The case runs alongside a separate suit by major medical organizations awaiting a ruling in Massachusetts, with the CDC’s vaccine panel scheduled to meet in March as states weigh public‑health and implementation impacts.