NYS joins lawsuit seeking return of federal schedule for 7 childhood vaccines

New York joined 15 other states Monday in a lawsuit seeking restoration of the childhood vaccine schedule rolled back by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The lawsuit — which names Kennedy and Dr. Erica Schwartz, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as defendants — is asking a federal judge to order the childhood schedules restored for seven vaccines, including for hepatitis B, the flu, RSV and meningitis. The suit also is asking the judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to declare the CDC’s new vaccine schedule illegal; invalidate the agency's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel that made the recommendations; and reverse Kennedy's order against hepatitis B vaccinations for infants at birth.

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ... delivered an unprecedented attack on the nation’s evidence-based childhood immunization schedule," the lawsuit states. "Under the direction of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, the CDC stripped seven childhood vaccines of their universally recommended status, in favor of senseless complexity and equivocation that will make children sicker and strain state resources."

The states’ lawsuit also is challenging Kennedy's June 2025 firing of the previous panel of the CDC immunization committee, which sets U.S. vaccine recommendations.

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday added the state to the lawsuit, which was filed by attorneys general in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, along with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

"Every parent wants their child to grow up healthy and protected from preventable diseases," James said in a statement. "For decades, these vaccines have kept millions of children out of the hospital and saved countless lives. Families deserve guidance grounded in science, and these abrupt changes put children's health at risk. I will keep fighting to protect our kids and make sure every family can trust the advice they get from their pediatrician."

The CDC reduced the number of recommended vaccines from 17 to 11 in January, while still recommending shots for polio, whooping cough, chickenpox, measles, tetanus and HPV. The agency also stopped recommending the COVID-19 vaccine for all children.

New York State officials said they would continue to follow the traditional recommended schedule for all 17 vaccines. State lawmakers passed legislation in May that separated state guidance from federal agencies and maintained vaccine requirements for school enrollment and traditional guidance for children and newborns.

Kennedy has raised skepticism about the safety of schedules to deliver more than one vaccine at a time. He also has suggested that there may be a link between vaccines and autism, a claim that has been disproved by experts.

Officials with the HHS and Kennedy’s vaccine-challenging nonprofit, Children’s Health Defense, could not be reached for comment Monday.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.