The panel said mothers who test negative for hepatitis B can decide with their doctors whether to delay the shot until at least two months
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) vaccine advisory panel voted Friday to change its long-standing recommendation that all newborns should get a hepatitis B shot within 24 hours of birth.
The panel, reshaped this year by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said mothers who test negative for hepatitis B can decide with their doctors whether to delay the shot until at least two months.
Three of eight members opposed the move, warning it puts infants at risk.
Public health experts and major medical groups criticized the decision, saying decades of data show the birth dose protects babies from a dangerous, incurable infection.
Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill will decide whether to accept the recommendation. Critics, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, fear the change will confuse parents and increase infections.
The panel kept the requirement for babies born to mothers who test positive or whose status is unknown.