Fifteen states sue Trump administration over new child vaccination policy

(Patria) - Fifteen U.S. states governed by Democrats announced on Tuesday they are suing the administration of President Donald Trump over the reduction of recommended pediatric vaccines, AFP reported.

The reform, announced in January by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, led by longtime vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., means the country no longer recommends that every child receive immunization against several diseases, including rotavirus, influenza, and Covid-19.

Instead, the seven vaccines in question are recommended only for children who are particularly at risk, a move that reverses long-standing science-based recommendations that have reduced diseases through routine vaccinations.

"Secretary RFK Jr. and his CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) are ignoring decades of scientific research, ignoring credible medical experts, and threatening to strain state resources and make American children sicker," California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is leading the lawsuit alongside his counterpart from Arizona, said at a press conference. Kennedy is named as a defendant, along with the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Other vaccines stripped of their universally recommended status include those against hepatitis A, meningococcal disease, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and the highly contagious hepatitis B virus.

Democrats: Administration leaves children unprotected

The overhaul of the childhood vaccination schedule has raised concerns in the medical community. The Trump administration last month justified its actions by saying it is aligning U.S. vaccination policies with those of other countries, citing Denmark as an example.

Some health experts point out that Denmark is a small, homogeneous country with low disease prevalence and a centralized healthcare system that guarantees universal access to care. Such conditions do not apply to the United States, where a largely privatized healthcare system is less comprehensive than in northern Europe and has left millions of Americans uninsured.

"Copying Denmark's vaccination schedule without copying Denmark's healthcare system does not give families more choices - it only leaves children unprotected from serious diseases," Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said at a press conference.

Vaccine skepticism has grown in the United States since Trump returned to the presidency thirteen months ago.

Vaccination rates have been declining since the Covid pandemic, raising fears of a resurgence of deadly and contagious diseases such as measles. The issue has become deeply political, with California Governor Gavin Newsom, a fierce critic of Trump and a potential presidential candidate in the 2028 election, weighing in.

"California is going back to court because the Trump administration is violating federal law and promoting a reckless, unscientific childhood vaccination schedule that puts children's lives at risk," he said.

The 58-year-old Democrat said that undermining trust in vaccines will lead to lower vaccination rates and more cases of infectious diseases. The lawsuit was also filed by other states including Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.