NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government has long advised that all babies be immunized against hepatitis B right after birth. But on Friday, a federal vaccine advisory committee voted to do away with that recommendation.

The group, whose current members were all appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recommends a dose at birth only for babies whose mothers test positive for the virus or whose infection status is unknown.

For other babies, it will be up to the parents and their doctors to decide. The committee voted to suggest that when a family decides not to get a newborn dose, then the shots should begin when the child is 2 months old.

A loud chorus of medical and public health leaders decried the decision, saying the hepatitis B vaccine prevents thousands of illnesses.

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