A federal vaccine committee has recommended ending the decades-long guidance that all newborns be immunized at birth against hepatitis B, the highly infectious virus that can lead to chronic liver disease in infected children.

The controversial change, decided in an 8-to-3 vote on Friday, was advanced by outspoken vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s handpicked Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

Kennedy, who heads President Donald Trump's Health and Human Services Department, has argued that because hepatitis B is primarily transmitted during sex, the vaccine is unnecessary for babies unless their mothers are infected. The panel recommended instead that parents consult with their doctors.

New York City's top health official, Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse di

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