Recent changes to federal COVID-19 vaccine guidance put Americans "at grave and immediate risk" of harm and must be overturned, APHA and partners said in a new lawsuit this week.

The legal complaint, filed July 7 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, challenges a recent decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to downgrade advice on COVID-19 vaccinations. Defendants in the lawsuit include HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said in May that COVID-19 vaccines would no longer be included in federal recommended immunization schedules for healthy children and people who are pregnant.

Following his announcement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention edited guidance on COVID-19 vaccinations on its website. The agency's immunization schedule now says that children ages 6 months to 17 years who are not immunocompromised "may receive" a COVID-19 vaccination based on shared decisionmaking between clinicians and parents or guardians. While CDC's page on COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy still endorses immunization, a note says the page will be changed "to align with the updated immunization schedule."

Minimizing the need for COVID-19 vaccinations puts Americans, and particularly children, at "immediate risk of contracting a preventable disease," APHA and the other plaintiffs said.

"This decision immediately exposes these vulnerable populations to a serious illness with potentially irreversible long-term effects and, in some cases, death," the lawsuit said. "This is not a hypothetical concern, but a pressing public health emergency that demands immediate legal action and correction."

Kennedy — who has a long history of promoting vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories — also dismissed all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in June, replacing them with his personal choices, some of whom have expressed anti-vaccine views.

The secretary’s actions are intended to mislead the public and normalize anti-vaccine and anti-science rhetoric, while also violating established federal procedures, according to the lawsuit. Other plaintiffs in the case include the American Academy of Pediatrics, Infectious Disease Society of America and the Massachusetts Public Health Association.

“This administration has both broken the law and is not providing good scientific evidence and policies,” APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, MD, said during a Monday news briefing. "APHA has joined this lawsuit to stop these disproven theories that are driving policymaking decisions before lives are lost and people suffer needlessly.”

Vaccination during pregnancy is safe and has been linked to reduced risk of severe illness in infants. COVID-19 infection during pregnancy can increase risks for preeclampsia, preterm birth and stillbirth.

Rates of COVID-19 immunizations have been falling in recent years as the pandemic has ebbed. About 11,200 U.S. children were admitted to hospitals because of COVID-19 in the 2024-2025 respiratory virus season, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Nearly 70% of those were kids ages 4 and under.

Susan Kressly, MD, FAAP, president of the academy, said the federal government's recent actions — combined with the spread of vaccine misinformation — further weaken the nation’s already strained vaccination infrastructure.

“These actions are creating confusion around proven vaccines and the science supporting them,” Kressly said. “This endangers children's health and contributes to the spread of preventable disease.”

The lawsuit is the latest in a series of actions by APHA to defend public health against harmful policies from the Trump administration. In June, a federal judge sided with APHA and its partners in a case that overturned the administration’s cancellation of hundreds of NIH research grants. The Association also attained a restraining order this spring against the administration’s reorganization of the federal government, though an emergency stay issued by the Supreme Court on July 8 will allow staffing cuts and agency restructuring to continue as the case proceeds.

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