CDC’s Vaccine Panel Postpones a MAHA-Backed Hepatitis B Vaccine Vote

The newly appointed panel also reversed one of its earlier votes, further limiting childhood vaccine access for low-income children.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr

Michael Conroy/AP

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s hand-picked vaccine panel is leaving its vote on whether to stop recommending the Hepatitis B vaccine for newborns for another day.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Friday opted to indefinitely table its scheduled vote on whether newborns should continue to receive the Hepatitis B vaccine immediately after birth, with its members saying they felt unready to make the decision.

“We are more prudent when we are cautious,” said ACIP member Joseph Hibbeln, a neuroscientist who formerly worked at the National Institutes of Health.