The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially ceased recommending vaccinating all newborns against hepatitis B at birth, breaking with 30 years of precedent and delivering a significant win for vaccine skeptics. 

Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary and acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill announced Tuesday that the agency would fully accept the recommendation made earlier this month by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to no longer recommend the vaccine for infants born to mothers confirmed negative for hepatitis B. Instead, it will promote “individual-based decision-making,” the CDC said in a press release.

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