HHS Renews ACIP Charter Through 2028, 21 Days After Court Blocked Kennedy's Vaccine Panel
The Centers for Disease Control filed a renewal notice for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on April 3, continuing the panel through April 2028 despite a preliminary injunction issued in Massachusetts federal court staying Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s appointees. The renewal adds toxicology to the committee's required specialty balance and describes the panel's mission as controlling vaccine-preventable diseases 'and/or decrease symptomatology.'
The Department of Health and Human Services has renewed the charter of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for a two-year term running through April 1, 2028, according to a notice published in the Federal Register on April 6, 2026.
The renewal, signed by Kalwant Smagh, Director of the CDC's Office of Strategic Business Initiatives, was placed on public inspection on April 3 — 18 days after a federal district court in Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction staying HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 13 appointees to the committee and the revised childhood immunization schedule the panel had approved.
What the notice authorizes
The Federal Register notice (91 FR 17279) re-establishes ACIP as a discretionary federal advisory committee with up to 19 voting members selected and appointed by the HHS Secretary. It estimates annual operating costs at roughly $1.2 million: $940,313 in federal personnel, $140,027 in internal costs, $42,750 in member payments, and $83,106 in reimbursable expenses.
Members serve four-year overlapping terms and may continue for 180 days past expiration if no successor has been seated. The notice lists the committee's required specialty balance as:
biostatistics, toxicology, immunology, epidemiology, pediatrics, internal medicine, family medicine, nursing, consumer issues, state and local health department perspective, academic perspective, public health perspective.
The inclusion of toxicology as a standing specialty area is notable. The panel's statutory role, set under Section 1928 of the Social Security Act and Section 2713 of the Public Health Service Act, is to establish the list of vaccines and schedules used in the Vaccines for Children Program and to make recommendations that private insurers are required to cover without cost-sharing.
The scope language
The charter describes the committee's mission as providing advice to the CDC Director on vaccines and 'related agents' for the 'effective control of vaccine-preventable diseases and/or decrease symptomatology in the civilian population of the United States.' The reference to 'related agents' and to 'decrease symptomatology' — rather than solely prevention of disease — extends the panel's traditional framing.
The notice also states that 'preference is given to candidates who are citizens of the United States' in the member selection process.
The court ruling
HHS filed the renewal notice in the middle of ongoing litigation. In American Academy of Pediatrics et al. v. Kennedy et al., Case No. 1:25-cv-11916, pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Massachusetts Public Health Alliance, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine sued Kennedy and HHS over actions taken after Kennedy fired all sitting ACIP members in June 2025 and installed 13 replacements.
On March 16, 2026, the court issued a preliminary injunction staying Kennedy's ACIP appointments and halting enforcement of the revised childhood immunization schedule HHS had published on January 5, which cut the number of routinely recommended childhood vaccinations. The order also reversed a May 2025 Secretarial Directive on COVID-19 vaccine recommendations and the December 2025 ACIP vote downgrading the hepatitis B birth-dose recommendation.
The preliminary injunction addresses the sitting members of the committee and the specific votes they took; the charter renewal published in the Federal Register addresses the committee's authorizing document and membership criteria. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon has characterized the renewal as 'routine statutory requirements' that 'do not signal any broader policy shift.'
Timeline
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| June 2025 | Kennedy dismisses all 17 sitting ACIP members and appoints 13 replacements |
| January 5, 2026 | HHS publishes revised childhood vaccine schedule, reducing routinely recommended pediatric vaccinations |
| March 16, 2026 | U.S. District Court, D. Mass. issues preliminary injunction staying Kennedy's appointments and vaccine schedule |
| April 3, 2026 | Charter renewal notice filed for public inspection |
| April 6, 2026 | Notice published in Federal Register (91 FR 17279) |
| April 1, 2028 | Renewed charter expires |
The renewal will not be a one-time matter for the courts. Federal advisory committee charters require consultation with the General Services Administration's Committee Management Secretariat and a written public interest determination under 41 CFR 102-3.60(a) before renewal. The notice includes that determination, attesting that ACIP's work 'is not available from another Federal advisory committee or Federal Government source.'