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News Story

Gov. Shapiro joins Democratic AGs suing the CDC over change in childhood vaccine recommendation

It names the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and their respective leaders.

Gov. Josh Shapiro joined a multistate lawsuit against the Trump administration over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) decision to overhaul the national childhood immunization schedule.

The suit is led by Democratic attorneys general from Arizona and California. They’re joined by Democratic attorneys general from 12 other states, as well as by Shapiro in his capacity as governor.

It names the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and their respective leaders, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CDC director Jay Bhattacharya.

Last year, Kennedy, a longtime and outspoken vaccine skeptic, removed and replaced all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Then in January, the CDC issued a new childhood immunization schedule that rescinded the universal recommendations for vaccination against hepatitis A, influenza, meningococcal disease, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and rotavirus. The move followed its dropping of universal recommendations for childhood COVID-19 and hepatitis B vaccinations.

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Vaccines the CDC previously recommended universally for children are now recommended for children with underlying conditions, or as options parents can discuss with doctors.

The lawsuit alleges the CDC’s vaccine panel was unlawfully replaced, and that the new recommendations were illegal, unscientific, and “posed an immediate threat to public health.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical organizations filed a lawsuit seeking to block the new recommendations last month.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement, “This is a publicity stunt dressed up as a lawsuit. By law, the health secretary has clear authority to make determinations on the CDC immunization schedule and the composition of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The CDC immunization schedule reforms reflect common-sense public health policy shared by peer, developed countries.”

Most of the 20 identified peer countries recommended fewer than the 18 childhood immunizations previously advocated for by the CDC. But the U.S. now recommends fewer vaccines than all but Denmark, which is itself an outlier.

While it’s common for Democratic attorneys general to be more litigious against Republican presidential administrations — and vice versa — Shapiro has signed on to multiple lawsuits led by Democratic attorneys general in his capacity as governor.

Prior to his election as governor, he served as Pennsylvania’s Attorney General.

Republican state Attorney General Dave Sunday has largely remained quiet on the matters. When asked about the lawsuit by the Capital-Star, a spokesperson for his office said, “Generally speaking, the governor’s office has the ability to represent their executive agencies under the Commonwealth Attorneys Act.”

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