The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee on Thursday voted to make a significant change to the nation’s childhood vaccine schedule during its first gathering since members were handpicked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The committee voted 8-3, with one abstention, to recommend against administering the combined measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine to children before age 4. Instead, two separate shots would be recommended: an MMR vaccine and a separate varicella shot for chicken pox.
Though the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices discussed changes to the hepatitis B vaccine schedule, members pushed the vote until Friday, when the panel is also set to discuss COVID-19 vaccines.
