The votes in favor of Merck's shot are a sigh of relief after Kennedy gutted the panel and tapped replacements, some of whom are well-known vaccine critics.

At the first meeting of a controversial new group of vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the committee announced new plans to study established vaccine guidelines.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will reexamine current recommendations around childhood vaccination schedules and Hepatitis B immunizations, members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices announced during a meeting in Atlanta on Wednesday,