Eder Peralta

I mean, why would the CDC committee endorse this?

Well, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long campaigned against vaccines, essentially stacked this committee with like-minded members.

And many of them question whether vaccinating children against hepatitis B when they're so young is really necessary.

They also question whether it's safe to give newborn babies this shot so early in life.

Here's how new committee member Retsef Levy, a professor of operations management at MIT, put it.

The committee recommended that only babies born to mothers who test positive for the virus or whose status is unknown routinely get vaccinated at birth.

Those who test negative should talk to their doctor.

And what's been the reaction to this change?

Most public health experts are horrified, frankly.

They say there's overwhelming evidence that the vaccine is safe for newborns and babies can catch the virus even if their mothers aren't infected.

Here's Dr. Joseph Hiblin, another member of the committee who voted against the change.

And for that reason, we have a very high bar before we make any changes to the current program.

And he and other members are worried that other changes may be in the works.

So let's talk about that.

This isn't the first change this administration has made in vaccine policies.

Remind us what else has happened and what may be coming.

Yeah, the Trump administration has already made it harder for many people to get the COVID-19 vaccines, made it more complicated to vaccinate babies against chickenpox, and changed the CDC stance on a possible link between vaccines and autism, even though that's long been debunked.

The CDC committee is now scrutinizing the entire childhood vaccine schedule, which for decades has protected children against more than a dozen dangerous diseases, including measles, mumps, tetanus, and, you know, polio.

Here's Dr. Rochelle Walensky, a former CDC director.

and the committee laid the groundwork during the meeting to consider other controversial changes in U.S.