A panel that advises on U.S. vaccine policy voted on Friday to recommend a delay in when most babies begin to be vaccinated against hepatitis B, overturning a 30-year-old policy that has contributed to a massive decline in cases of the virus.
The vote, which followed a day of contentious discussion, was 8-3. Specifically, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that parents discuss with their doctors whether to give the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, or at all, and that those who choose to do so wait to begin the vaccine series until their baby is at least 2 months old. That recommendation applies to mothers who test negative for hepatitis B during their pregnancy.
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