The West Coast Health Alliance recommended this week that all newborns continue to receive hepatitis B vaccinations, rejecting new guidance from the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices put together by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic who frequently disseminates incorrect scientific information.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek -- whose office said Friday that Kennedy “has aggressively weaponized the [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] by purging its vaccine advisory committee,” among other actions -- backed the WCHA’s recommendation.

“The Alliance grounds its decisions in facts, data and expert consensus,” Kotek said in a statement. “Today’s hepatitis B guidance reflects exactly that. Oregonians who want the vaccine to protect their fa

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