A panel of advisers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has voted to remove the longstanding recommendation to universally vaccinate American infants against hepatitis B.

For infants of mothers who test negative, the panel recommended that parents, in consultation with a health-care provider, should decide when or if their child will begin the vaccine series. Under the scrapped recommendation, the birth dose is followed by two more vaccines, at one to two months and six to 18 months.

The vote does not change the guidance for babies born to mothers who are positive for hepatitis B — they should still be vaccinated at birth, as per the recommendations.

Since 1991, the U.S. has had a universal hepatitis B vaccine recommendation, including administering a dose just

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