The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) — a highly influential Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine panel — held discussions and votes over the past two days on a number of vaccinations.

Specifically, the CDC panel discussed the MMRV, hepatitis B, and COVID vaccines.

On the MMRV vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox, the panel voted to delay the shot until a child is at least four years old, citing an increased risk in febrile seizures. It’s still currently recommended that the MMR and chickenpox vaccine, separately, be given to young children.

The hepatitis B shot was also widely discussed, but ultimately a vote to delay the first dose, which is currently given at birth, was kicked for another time. Some advocates say the first dose is not necessary at birth if the mother herself tests negative for the disease, since hepatitis B is transmitted sexually or by blood.

The panel did vote to recommend all pregnant women be tested for hepatitis B, a test that is covered across all insurance programs, according to Health and Human Services (HHS).

Lastly, the panel took on COVID vaccines. The panel recommended that the shot “be determined by individual decision-making.” This means there is no longer a broad recommendation for all, but instead, individuals will decide after discussions with providers, including physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, according to HHS.

“It allows for immunization coverage through all payment mechanisms including entitlement programs such as the Vaccines for Children Program, Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicaid, and Medicare, as well as insurance plans through the federal Health Insurance Marketplace,” HHS adds.

During this latest meeting, five new appointees were named to ACIP: Catherine M. Stein, Dr. Evelyn Griffin, Hilary Blackburn, Dr. Kirk Milhoan, and Dr. Raymond Pollak.

ACIP is highly influential. The panel meets a few times a year and makes recommendations to the CDC, thereby basically setting the childhood vaccine schedule and other vaccine-related recommendations, like flu shots and COVID vaccines. ACIP also heavily influences which vaccines are covered by both public and private insurance.

Back in June, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed all sitting ACIP panel members over what he said were conflicts of interest. At the time, Kennedy argued in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal that ACIP had lost the trust of the American people, effectively becoming a “rubber-stamp” for all vaccines while ignoring safety concerns and conflict of interest rules.

He said that ACIP had “never recommended against a vaccine—even those which were later withdrawn for safety reasons,” adding that the panel “failed to scrutinize vaccine products given to babies and pregnant women.”

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Russia unleashed a major drone and missile attack on Ukraine overnight, killing three people, injuring dozens more, and damaging infrastructure and residential buildings, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.

Despite diplomatic efforts to find ways to end the war that began when Russia invaded in February 2022, the fighting has intensified in recent months.

In a statement on the Telegram app, Zelensky said Russia had launched around 580 drones and 40 missiles targeting infrastructure, civilian manufacturing companies and residential areas in different parts of the country.

Air defences shot down 552 of the drones and 31 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said.

RUSSIA IS ‘TERRORISING’ CIVILIANS, SAYS ZELENSKY

“All night, Ukraine was under a massive attack by Russia,” Zelensky said. “Every such strike is not a military necessity but a deliberate strategy by Russia to terrorise civilians and destroy our infrastructure.”

Russia denies targeting Ukrainian civilians.

In the central city of Dnipro, a missile with a cluster munition hit a residential apartment building, Zelensky said.

One person was killed, and at least 26 people were injured in Dnipro, regional officials said.

Two people were also killed in the Chernihiv region in the north and the Khmelnytskyi region in the west of the country, regional officials said.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.

“I could hear the ‘Shahed’ (drone) getting closer and closer. I understood it was flying towards us. My child and I were very frightened,” Yulia Chystokletova, a resident of Kyiv, told Reuters.

“It should not be happening in the 21st century. We are all people. Agree… sit down at the negotiating table.”

Kyiv faces increasing pressure in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops are keeping up their grinding advance, devastating villages and towns and claiming new territory.

BOTH SIDES STEPPING UP DRONE ATTACKS

To hit Ukrainian cities far from the frontline, Russia appears to have changed its tactics and now launches swarms of hundreds of drones in one strike, compared with dozens early in the war.

Ukraine typically responds with drone strikes of its own, aiming to reach deeper into the Russian territory, hitting refineries, fuel depots, and logistics hubs.

Ukraine hit two Russian oil refineries in the Saratov and Samara regions in attacks overnight, causing explosions and fires, the Ukrainian General Staff said.

“Regarding refineries: we have drones, we know how to produce them. It all depends on the number of drones we use per day,” Zelensky told reporters.

“As soon as the number of drones is comparable to that of the Russians, they will feel it in terms of fuel shortages and the number of queues at petrol stations.”

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had successfully carried out strikes with high-precision weapons on Ukrainian military-industrial facilities overnight.

Polish and allied aircraft were also deployed early on Saturday to ensure the safety of Polish airspace after some of Russia’s airstrikes targeted western Ukraine near the border with NATO member Poland, the Polish military command said.

(Additional reporting by Yuri Kovalenko; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Hugh Lawson and Gareth Jones)