The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is stirring controversy by changing the recommendation for when children should first get their hepatitis B vaccine. The center’s vaccine advisory panel announced on Friday that children should get their first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine after they’re two months old. Previously, the CDC said children should get their first dose within 24 hours of birth. The panel made its decision on the latest recommendation with an 8-2 vote, CBS News reported. 

The experts also advised families to talk with a healthcare expert before deciding when to give the dose or if the vaccine should be given at all to a child born to a mother who tested negative for the virus.

What are the arguments being heard after the CDC revealed a new recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine?

As medical experts and other government officials came together on Friday for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ meeting, various arguments were heard about the CDC’s recommendation on the hepatitis B vaccine. The panel at Friday’s meeting featured members who were appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Restef Levi, an ACIP member and mathematician who doesn’t have any experience in medical training, argued against the previous CDC recommendation that has been used for decades. Per CBS News, Levi falsely said experts “never tested (the vaccines) appropriately.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics is among the medical organizations opposing the CDC’s latest recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine. Per CBS News, the AAP said the CDC’s new finding may cause children to face a higher risk of an infection or lifelong illness.

Some of the critics of the CDC’s decision also included pediatrics professor Dr. Cody Meissner and committee member Dr. Joseph Hibbeln. Hibbeln said “no rational science has been presented” to support the changes. Meisner added that the recommendation should be as-is, and parents should make their own decisions about the vaccines.

“We’ve heard ‘do no harm’ as a moral imperative. We are doing harm by changing this wording,” Meissner said, per CBS News.

What is Hepatitis B?

Hepatitis B is a viral infection that can cause liver disease, cancer or death. Since 1991, when experts in the U.S. started recommending the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns, infections have dropped 99%, study shows.