特朗普政府周二向联邦上诉小组表示，下级法院错误地阻止了卫生部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪精心挑选的任命者在一个关键疫苗咨询小组任职。司法部律师马修·佐恩告诉美国第一巡回上诉法院，地区法院法官无权暂停肯尼迪对免疫实践咨询委员会（ACIP）的任命。佐恩表示，下级法院裁决的实际效果是，ACIP 在任何方面都被禁止开会。
The Trump administration told a federal appeals panel Tuesday that a lower court erred in blocking Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s handpicked appointees from serving on a key vaccine advisory panel. Justice Department attorney Matthew Zorn told the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that a district court judge did not have the authority to suspend Kennedy’s appointments to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Zorn said the practical effect of the lower court’s ruling is that ACIP has been blocked from meeting in any capacity.
即使肯尼迪试图任命新成员，或遵循不同的程序，佐恩称这些举动也会被阻止。佐恩说：“部长希望让 ACIP 重新运转起来，但我们被告知，如果他重组任何委员会，马上就会再次被告上法庭。”
Even if Kennedy tried to appoint new members, or followed a different procedure, Zorn said those moves would be blocked. “The secretary wants to get the ACIP back to work, and we are being told if he reconstitutes any committee, it's going to be right back in court,” Zorn said.
ACIP 向疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）提出疫苗政策建议，这有助于决定哪些疫苗通过私人和政府医疗保险项目获得覆盖。马萨诸塞州联邦地区法院法官布莱恩·墨菲于三月裁定，肯尼迪解雇所有 17 名 ACIP 成员并挑选新成员（其中许多人与他一样对疫苗持怀疑态度）时，很可能违反了联邦程序。墨菲裁定，肯尼迪挑选了“明显不合格”的个人，而非疫苗和免疫学专家，并无视了历史上支撑该委员会工作的科学程序。
ACIP makes recommendations on vaccine policy to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which help determine which shots are covered through private and government health insurance programs. Judge Brian Murphy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled in March that Kennedy likely violated federal procedures when he fired all 17 members of ACIP and selected new panelists, many of whom shared his skepticism of vaccines. Murphy ruled Kennedy picked “distinctly unqualified” individuals instead of experts on vaccines and immunization and disregarded the scientific process that historically underpinned the committee’s work.
上诉小组的一些法官似乎对下级法院的裁决感到困惑，质疑为何墨菲似乎没有为阻止肯尼迪的任命者提供法律解释。原告辩称，墨菲的裁决并不妨碍肯尼迪任命一个新的 ACIP。他只需遵守法律对成员公平平衡和专业知识的要求即可。
Some of the judges on the appeals panel appeared puzzled about the lower court’s ruling, questioning why it seemed Murphy made no legal explanation for blocking Kennedy's appointees. The plaintiffs argued that Murphy's ruling doesn't prevent Kennedy from appointing a new ACIP. He just needs to follow the law’s requirements of fair balance and expertise for panelists.
他们表示，政府想利用同一非法程序重组免疫实践咨询委员会（ACIP），安插支持肯尼迪推翻儿童疫苗政策的成员。在墨菲法官作出裁决前的三次会议上，肯尼迪主导的免疫实践咨询委员会撤销了多项儿童疫苗接种建议，包括为所有新生儿接种乙肝疫苗的建议。在诉讼审理期间，墨菲暂时叫停了这些任命，以及免疫实践咨询委员会和肯尼迪对疫苗接种计划所做的其他更改。
They said the administration wants to use the same unlawful process to reconstitute ACIP with members who will support Kennedy’s quest to roll back childhood vaccines. Over the course of three meetings prior to Murphy’s ruling, Kennedy’s ACIP rescinded several recommendations for childhood shots, including the immunization of all newborns against hepatitis B. Murphy temporarily blocked the appointments, as well as other changes to the vaccine schedule made by ACIP and Kennedy, while the lawsuit plays out. The lawsuit was filed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups seeking to stop Kennedy from scaling back of the nation's childhood vaccination schedule.
该诉讼由美国儿科学会及其他医学团体提起，旨在阻止肯尼迪缩减国家儿童免疫接种计划。诉讼最初聚焦于肯尼迪决定不再建议大多数儿童和孕妇接种新冠疫苗，但随着肯尼迪和卫生与公众服务部采取更多被指破坏儿童疫苗政策的措施，诉讼内容经修订后扩大。例如，肯尼迪绕过免疫实践咨询委员会，单方面宣布新的儿童疫苗接种计划，实际上将儿童常规免疫预防的疾病种类从17种减少到11种。
The lawsuit was originally focused on Kennedy's decision to stop recommending COVID-19 vaccinations for most children and pregnant women, but it was amended as Kennedy and the Department of Health and Human Services took additional steps that they argued undermined pediatric vaccines. For instance, Kennedy bypassed ACIP and unilaterally announced a new childhood vaccine schedule, effectively reducing the number of diseases against which children are routinely immunized to 11 from 17. The Trump administration did not appeal the lower court’s pause of Kennedy's changes to the immunization schedule.
特朗普政府未对下级法院暂停肯尼迪免疫接种计划更改的裁决提出上诉，而是将重点放在免疫实践咨询委员会问题上。
Instead, the government focused on ACIP.