The Brief

A new vaccine advisory committee appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will meet Thursday for a two-day session to review guidelines for shots against COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how already-approved vaccines should be used. CDC directors have almost always accepted those recommendations, which are widely heeded by doctors and guide vaccination programs.

Kennedy, a leading antivaccine activist before becoming the nation’s top health official, fired the entire 17-member panel earlier this year and replaced it with a group that includes several vaccine skeptics. On Monday, HHS announced the addition of five more p

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