Key vaccine advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted 11-1 Friday morning to delay a recommendation on changes to the hepatitis B vaccine administered to newborns, a surprise development greeted with relief by infectious disease experts.

The vote came after a lengthy and tense discussion Thursday about the necessity of giving newborn babies the vaccine, rather than waiting until they are at least a month old.

Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) had been considering eliminating the current recommendation that all newborns receive the vaccine, which has been credited with a dramatic decrease in the infection rate over the past 30 years.

Several liaison........

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