A federal judge in Boston has blocked Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s overhaul of U.S. vaccine policy, including a January directive slashing the number of recommended childhood vaccinations from 18 to 11. Under RFK Jr., the CDC had dropped recommendations that all babies should be protected against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, RSV, dengue and two types of bacterial meningitis. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy wrote in his ruling, “There is a method to how these decisions historically have been made — a method scientific in nature and codified into law through procedural requirements. Unfortunately, the Government has disregarded those methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its actions.” Judge Murphy also found that Kennedy violated federal law when he fired all 17 members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and replaced them with handpicked appointees who have questioned established medical research on vaccines.