Axios

President Trump ordered his top health officials Friday night to review all U.S. childhood vaccination recommendations and align them with the "best practices" from other developed countries.

Why it matters: It's a vote of confidence in Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s handpicked advisory panel on vaccines, which voted earlier Friday to to drop the decades-old federal recommendation that all infants receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.

• The Centers for Disease Control panel "made a very good decision to END their Hepatitis B Vaccine Recommendation for babies, the vast majority of whom are at NO RISK of Hepatitis B," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

The big picture: Kennedy and his allies have gained the power to pursue sweeping changes in U.S. vaccine policies, driven by their embrace of discredited theories about vaccines' link to autism and other diseases.

What's inside: Trump's memorandum orders Kennedy and the CDC director to "review best practices from peer, developed countries for core childhood vaccination recommendations — vaccines recommended for all children — and the scientific evidence that informs those best practices."

• If they determine that other countries' practices are better, Trump ordered them to "update the United States core childhood vaccine schedule to align with such scientific evidence and best practices from peer, developed countries while preserving access to vaccines currently available to Americans."
• Kennedy responded in an X post: "Thank you, Mr. President. We're on it."

Between the lines: Trump's order suggests he's not trying to distance himself from Kennedy's vaccine agenda — at least for now — despite the outcry from medical groups over his agenda, and especially over the CDC panel's recommendation Friday to change federal policy on the hepatitis B vaccine.

• In fact, it appears to fast track a comprehensive review of all childhood immunizations, which Trump has claimed is too much at once, even comparing the volume of doses to what would be given to a horse.
• The U.S. immunization schedule is more comprehensive than what's found in many European countries, which sometimes use different strategies.

Medical associations on Friday assailed the CDC panel's moves on hepatitis shots.

• In a statement, the American Medical Association's Sandra Adamson Fryhofer called the CDC panel's vote "reckless" and said it "undermines decades of public confidence in a proven, lifesaving vaccine."
• "Today's action is not based on scientific evidence, disregards data supporting the effectiveness of the Hepatitis B vaccine, and creates confusion for parents about how best to protect their newborns."

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An advisory panel on vaccines handpicked by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday voted to drop the decades-old federal recommendation that all infants receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.

Why it matters: The move enshrines a top agenda item of vaccine critics as government policy and marks the biggest change to the childhood vaccination schedule since Kennedy was sworn in.

• The idea of changing the recommendation drew intense criticism from the medical establishment and public health leaders, who warned that it will lead to more preventable cases of hepatitis B, which can cause liver failure, cancer and even death.

Driving the news: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 8-3 to drop the policy of recommending that all infants get the shot at birth.

• Instead, it recommended that mothers who test negative for hepatitis could get their infants vaccinated after at least two months of age after consulting with doctors. Mothers testing positive would continue to be recommended to have their infants vaccinated.
• Panel members who backed the change argued that the vaccine is not necessary for children born to mothers who test negative.
• "I suggest to parents to be very, very suspicious when people tell them that something is safe, especially a vaccine," said Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at MIT.

Yes, but: Many medical experts warn that the testing system is not perfect and that some infants will go unprotected when the the hepatitis B vaccine has overwhelmingly shown to be safe.

The panel's recommendations are non-binding and still have to be formally approved by CDC leadership.

• The CDC and its advisers under Kennedy have emphasized "individual-based decision-making" as it reshapes decades of vaccine policy.

What they're saying: The American Academy of Pediatrics pointed to data showing that since 1991, when the birth dose recommendation began, annual hepatitis B cases in the U.S. have dropped 99%, from 16,000 to less than 20.

• Cody Meissner, a panel member and pediatric infectious disease expert, warned the change would result in more cases. "There is no evidence in regard to lack of safety [of the vaccine]," he said.
• "We're giving it to protect the infant against a potentially fatal disease," he added.

Leading public health groups and medical associations assailed the policy change after the vote.

• The National Association of County and City Health Officials, which represents local health departments, said removing the universal recommendation will make it harder for parents who chose to vaccinate to access care in a timely way.
• American Academy of Pediatrics president Susan Kressly said the change was "the result of a deliberate strategy to sow fear and distrust among families." The group said it continues to recommend all infants receive a first dose of hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth.

The big picture: The CDC panel postponed the planned vote on hepatitis B vaccine on Thursday amid confusion over the wording of the recommendation.

• ACIP also heard on Friday from leading anti-vaccine lawyer Aaron Siri in a broader discussion of the childhood vaccine schedule, though no votes are scheduled on that front.

The story has been updated with comment from medical and public health groups.