FILE PHOTO: U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., testifies before a Senate Finance Committee hearing on President Donald Trump's 2026 health care agenda, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 4, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/ File Photo

By Michael Erman

ATLANTA (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s hand-picked vaccine advisors to the CDC plan to vote on changes to the childhood vaccine schedule during its two-day meeting according to CDC documents, part of a push towards a new path for the country's vaccination policy.

Kennedy, a long-time anti-vaccine activist, fired all 17 members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices earlier this year and created a smaller panel with 12 people, many of whom have advocated against vaccine use. He has also scaled back recommendations on who should get the COVID-19 shot.

Documents published ahead of the meeting by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show two votes are anticipated that would scale back use of the combined measles-mumps-rubella-varicella vaccine in children under the age of 4 and the administration of the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.

PANEL EXAMINES RISK OF COMBINED MMR-VARICELLA SHOT

The committee, chaired by Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist who publicly criticized COVID-19 lockdowns and was fired from Harvard for refusing to take a COVID-19 vaccine, is considering removing recommendations to use the combined MMRV vaccine in children under age 4.

That combined shot has been linked to a higher risk of seizures in children under 4 years old than those who received separate measles-mumps-rubella and varicella shots.

The CDC already recommends that separate MMR and varicella vaccines be given under age 4 unless parents express a preference for the combined shot.

NEWBORN HEPATITIS B VACCINE UNDER REVIEW

The committee will also vote on whether the hepatitis B vaccine should continue to be given to all newborns at birth or be delayed until one month of age or through shared clinical decision-making with the mother, unless the mother tests positive for the virus.

It also will vote on whether all pregnant women should be tested for hepatitis B.

Hepatitis B is a viral disease that can lead to liver cancer, cirrhosis or death. Many doctors have said that it is a key vaccine for babies.

"The U.S. didn't make much progress in combating hepatitis B until they moved to the birth dose," said Noel Brewer, one of the fired committee members. "They had tried risk based vaccination, and it didn't really work very well... people who are high risk rarely think of themselves that way."

VACCINE POLICY CLASH LEADS TO CDC UPHEAVAL

The meeting comes after the firing of CDC head Susan Monarez, who clashed with Kennedy over vaccine policy, saying she was asked to rubber-stamp recommendations from the reconstituted committee.

The upheaval at the CDC also triggered the resignation of several senior CDC officials, citing concerns that policy decisions were being predetermined before scientific review.

On Wednesday, she said during a Senate committee hearing that Kennedy had told her that the vaccine schedule would change in September.

Dr. Jesse Goodman, former chief scientist at the FDA, said he was particularly concerned about the decision on the hepatitis B vaccine, for which he said there has not been any new evidence of harm.

"This is a watershed moment where, if the forces of rumor and innuendo overcome the real data and information, we could be headed for big troubles," Goodman said. "You don't want your kids, or someone you love, to have an incurable infection that, particularly if you get it in childhood, can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer and liver transplantation."

(Reporting by Michael Erman, additional reporting by Sriparna Roy, Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Caroline Humer, Lisa Shumaker and Chizu Nomiyama)