ATLANTA -- Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s new vaccine advisory committee meets Thursday to begin a two-day session focused on shots against COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox.

Votes are expected Thursday afternoon on hepatitis B and on a combined shot against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox, but Department of Health and Human Services officials have not said exactly what proposals would be considered.

Information on the meeting agenda suggests the committee may be poised to roll back - at least partly - a longstanding recommendation that all U.S. children get an initial dose of hepatitis B vaccine right after birth.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and many public health officials support that decades-old practice.

Dr. Mysheika Roberts, health department director

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