(CNN) — Vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted 11-1 to delay a vote on changes to a newborn hepatitis B shot. It was a surprise twist after a lengthy discussion on the hepatitis B vaccine typically delivered to newborns shortly after birth.

The committee had planned to consider a new recommendation that would wait to give newborns a dose of the hepatitis B vaccine until they are at least a month old. Currently, babies are given this shot at birth, usually before they leave the hospital.

The birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine has been recommended in the United States since 1991. After it was implemented, hepatitis B infections in infants dropped from an average of 18,000 per year to around 20 reported cases of hepatitis B in babies per year now. Childr

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