California and Arizona Lead Multistate Lawsuit Challenging Federal Childhood Vaccine Schedule Changes

-Editorial 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Tuesday that they are co-leading a multistate lawsuit against the federal government over recent changes to the childhood immunization schedule. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, names Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Jay Bhattacharya, and both agencies as defendants.

The lawsuit challenges a January 5 “Decision Memo” issued by the CDC that removed seven vaccines, for rotavirus, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), from universally recommended status. It also contests Kennedy’s replacement of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a federal panel that has guided U.S. vaccine policy for decades.

The coalition of 14 attorneys general and the governor of Pennsylvania is seeking a court declaration that the new vaccine schedule and the ACIP appointments are unlawful, and is asking the court to vacate both actions.

“The federal government’s changes to the childhood vaccine schedule raise serious public health concerns,” Bonta said. “Public health decisions must remain grounded in science. These changes could lower vaccination rates, increase infectious disease, and raise costs for states.”

Governor Gavin Newsom said California is taking action to defend established federal law and public health standards. “These changes ignore decades of medical evidence and put children at risk,” Newsom said. “We will not stand by while politics overrides science. Together with 14 other states, we are defending the law and protecting public health.”

Researchers estimate that routine childhood vaccinations for children born between 1994 and 2023 prevented roughly 508 million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations, and more than 1.1 million deaths, generating $2.7 trillion in societal savings. ACIP, composed of medical and public health experts, has historically guided the science-based immunization schedule used by federal agencies, states, and parents.

The lawsuit notes that Kennedy, a prominent vaccine critic, dismissed all 17 ACIP members in June 2025 and replaced them with a new panel. According to the complaint, at least nine of the 13 current members lack the professional qualifications required by ACIP guidelines, and several have publicly expressed opposition to vaccines. In December 2025, the reconstituted ACIP voted to reverse nearly 30 years of CDC guidance on hepatitis B vaccination at birth.

The January Decision Memo that revised the broader immunization schedule did not reference any new scientific evidence, ACIP recommendation, or systematic review, according to the lawsuit. Instead, it relied on international comparisons to countries such as Denmark, without accounting for differences in population, healthcare systems, and epidemiology.

In response to what state officials describe as federal uncertainty on vaccine guidance, Newsom announced the creation of the West Coast Health Alliance to coordinate public health communications and recommendations along the West Coast.

Joining Bonta and Mayes in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and the governor of Pennsylvania.