Overview

• The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to recommend giving measles-mumps-rubella and varicella as separate shots for children under four rather than the combined MMRV formulation.
• The panel recommended universal hepatitis B testing in pregnancy and deferred a vote on whether to delay the hepatitis B birth dose.
• Any changes to the childhood schedule still require agency review and approval, and federal officials say decisions will be based on science.
• Former CDC director Susan Monarez testified that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanded she pre-approve ACIP recommendations and fire career scientists, a claim HHS disputes.
• Kennedy previously removed the 17 sitting ACIP members and installed a new slate that includes critics of mainstream vaccine policy, intensifying concerns about process, evidence review, and potential effects on insurance and Vaccines for Children coverage.