On Friday, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 8-3 to end its recommendation that all infants receive a vaccine for hepatitis B at birth.

The vote came after a contentious discussion on Thursday, and days after Vinay Prasad, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), claimed in a memo obtained by multiple news outlets, but not made public, that the COVID-19 vaccine caused the death of 10 children. The allegation was made without any known evidence. The current vaccine approval process, Prasad said in the memo, “falls short.”

Public health experts sounded the alarm that overhauling the childhood vaccine process could reduce accessibility to vaccines for children and pregnant women and put their health at risk.

“This irresponsible and pur

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