New Delhi, Dec. 5 -- A group of vaccine advisers on Friday (December 5) removed the long-standing recommendation that all US newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, marking a major policy shift championed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The committee voted to continue the birth dose only for infants whose mothers test positive for hepatitis B, replacing the 1991 universal guideline that protected all children from potential liver infections.

For babies of mothers who test negative, the panel recommended that parents, in consultation with their healthcare provider, decide when or if to begin the vaccine series.

Under the scrapped universal recommendation, the birth dose was followed by two additional doses at 1-2 mo...