CDC’s vaccine advisers meet to question long‑used vaccines

Thursday, December 4, 2025 -Powerful federal advisers this week are expected to make a controversial change to how babies are immunized against hepatitis B, and to question how pediatricians inoculate children against more than a dozen other infectious diseases, including measles, mumps, whooping cough and polio.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisory panel Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is convening a closely watched meeting aimed at rethinking fundamental elements of the childhood vaccination schedule — a schedule that has protected children from dangerous diseases for decades. Supporters of the changes include allies of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long questioned the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.

The meeting has sparked grave concern among many public health experts, who fear it may further erode confidence in childhood vaccinations and lead to a resurgence of preventable infectious diseases. The scrutiny includes plans to consider delaying or changing the timing of the hepatitis B shot currently recommended at birth, and to review whether long‑established vaccines remain justified. Critics warn such moves could undermine decades of public‑health progress and put children at unnecessary risk.