Federal panel could call for scrapping of infant hepatitis B vaccines this week

Two-day meeting under new, RFK Jr-appointed chair could see radical overhaul of US childhood immunizations policy

A reversal of a decades-long program of childhood immunizations, including a recommendation to scrap hepatitis B shots for newborn babies, could come as early as this week in a vote by an advisory committee of allies convened by the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Speaking to the Washington Post, Kirk Milhoan, the new chair of the federal advisory panel on immunization practices, said members would vote whether to push for the axing of the hepatitis B requirement during its two-day meeting ending Friday.