HHS Files Motion to Expedite Appeal of Court Ruling Barring It From Meeting

The committee has not met since last December due to a court ruling blocking it from changing childhood vaccine recommendations.

Matt MacKenzie

June 17, 2026

Add Us On Google

Key Highlights

- The court ruling on March 16 halted changes to childhood vaccine recommendations, including COVID vaccines for healthy children.
- HHS has filed a motion to expedite its appeal to restore ACIP's authority to issue vaccine guidance before the fall flu season.
- The next scheduled ACIP meeting is June 24-26, but the group remains in limbo due to legal and administrative delays.
- The changes in vaccine recommendations included reducing the number of vaccines from 17 to 11 for U.S. children.
- The legal dispute centers on whether proper administrative procedures were followed in implementing the vaccine guideline changes.

6a32d30282895a184e1b90b9 67a2592e0b953ca31743fc39white House 2

HHS has filed a motion to "expedite its appeal of a court ruling that temporarily blocked changes to vaccine recommendations for U.S. children." CIDRAP has the news.

The appeal seeks to "restore [ACIP] so that the group, which has not met since last December, can issue vaccine recommendations ahead of the fall flu season." The ruling that blocked the changes came on March 16 in response to a lawsuit filed against the HHS arguing that "changes to childhood vaccine recommendations...had not followed proper administrative procedures."

Those changes included "ending the recommendation for COVID vaccines for healthy children and reducing the number of vaccines recommended for U.S. children from 17 to 11." ACIP was also temporarily barred from meeting and all of their recommendations were frozen.

The CDC lists the next ACIP meeting as June 24-26, but the group remains in limbo.