A panel of vaccine advisers to the federal government — now embroiled in controversy under the leadership of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — has voted in favor of changing the childhood vaccine schedule.

On Thursday afternoon, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, voted 8-3 to change the current recommendations that allow children under 4 to receive the MMRV vaccine, a combination shot for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox (or varicella).

The vast majority of children in the U.S. — about 85% — get separate shots for MMR and chickenpox, though parents currently have the option to give their children the single shot to cover all four diseases.

More: California releases its own vaccine recommendations as RFK shifts federal policy

The panel's votes s

See Full Page