A seismic shift in the nation’s approach to public health occurred Friday, one that was foreseen the moment Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee with vaccine skeptics. The panel voted to end the universal birth-dose recommendation for hepatitis B, a bedrock of the childhood immunization schedule for more than 30 years. Though the vaccine will still be available to parents who request it, the change will have many negative effects and might be even more alarming than it initially seems.

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