A new federal panel may delay the hepatitis B vaccine from birth to age 4, raising health concerns.

A federal vaccine advisory panel, newly appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is expected to recommend delaying the hepatitis B vaccine from birth to age 4, reversing decades of public health progress. The decision, to be voted on September 18–19 in Atlanta, has raised concerns among pediatricians who warn it could increase infection risks and undermine efforts to eliminate the disease. The panel will also review recommendations for other vaccines, including those for measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, and COVID-19.