For over thirty years, the U.S. has followed a simple rule: every newborn gets the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth. Now, in a move that’s left a lot of doctors frustrated, the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel just voted to toss that rule out for most babies. Instead, parents of infants born to mothers who test negative for hepatitis B can wait until their child turns two months old before getting the shot—or skip it altogether. The vote wasn’t even close: 8 to 3. That’s a huge change, and it’s already touched off a wave of debate about the science behind it and what this might mean for how vaccines are handled in the future, especially under the Trump administration.
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