Vaccine recommendations in the United States are in limbo, experts told The Guardian. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has not named any new members to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That means no new recommendations are coming, even as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves new vaccines 1.
Kennedy had cut childhood immunization recommendations by a third and replaced the panel's experts with his own handpicked allies 1. On March 16, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy stayed those changes in a case brought by the American Academy of Pediatrics and five other medical groups 2. The Guardian reports the changes were halted because they were not done correctly 1.
The court order sidelined 13 of the panel's 15 members and blocked every ACIP vote since June 2025. It also restored the childhood schedule to its form before January 2026 2. The government has appealed the part of the order that disbanded the committee 1.
Why a missing panel costs patients money
Insurers generally must cover a vaccine only after ACIP recommends it, and they get until the next plan year to start. A recommendation in December 2026 would require coverage by January 2028. One in January 2027 would push that to January 2029 1.
Ron Kroening, 63, a retired state public health worker in Oklahoma, has asthma. His doctor suggested the new Moderna mRNA flu vaccine, which the FDA approved in August for people 50 and older. He was charged a $40 co-pay, and he said his insurer told him it was because the shot is not listed as an ACIP vaccine 1.
It's a mess right now, what they're doing with our vaccines.
UCLA law professor Lindsay Wiley said that at best a recommendation might come next year, but there is no reason to think it will. "It's just delaying more and more and more," she said 1.
Who is affected
Some states do not let pharmacists give vaccines without an ACIP recommendation 1. The Guardian also reports delays in insurers covering the new flu shots for seniors under Medicare, even though the law requires that coverage without an ACIP recommendation 1.
Covid vaccines are the one exception. Congress changed the Affordable Care Act to require coverage within 15 days of an ACIP recommendation 1. The insurance group AHIP has said its members will keep covering all shots recommended as of September 2025 1.
Aaron Siri, who has served as Kennedy's lawyer, wrote on Monday that the White House and the Justice Department are "making no serious attempt to actually revive the vaccine committee." 1 Dorit Reiss, a vaccine law expert at UC Law San Francisco, said the federal government is choosing not to put a new panel in place. She added that going around ACIP could let Kennedy make his own recommendations 1.
That matters because older adults are the people most likely to be hurt by a bad flu season, and cost is a known barrier to getting a shot. The Guardian's reporting suggests the gap is a choice, not a legal obstacle, since experts say nothing stops Kennedy from appointing members the proper way 1.
What happens next depends on the appeal and on whether Kennedy names a new panel. Reiss said that without dramatic changes ACIP is probably not coming back the way it was, and that Congress may need to pass a law to protect it 1.
The Record
- Judge Brian Murphy stays Kennedy's vaccine schedule changes and sidelines 13 of 15 ACIP members 2.
- The FDA approves Moderna's mRNA flu vaccine for ages 50 and up (August, per The Guardian; exact day not given) 1.
- Experts say no ACIP recommendations are coming because Kennedy has not named new members 1.
Sources
- The Guardian, “'It's a mess right now': RFK's sweeping changes place new vaccines in limbo” (2026-10-26). theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/26/vaccines-rfk-jr
- CIDRAP, “The State of US Vaccine Policy: Special Edition — Mar 17, 2026” (2026-03-17). cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-vaccines/state-us-vaccine-policy-sp
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