Kennedy’s advisory panel recommends new restrictions on MMRV vaccines

AP News – Thursday, September 18, 2025
By Mike Stobbe and Laura Ungar

ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s hand-picked vaccine advisory committee on Thursday recommended the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adopt new restrictions on a combination shot that protects against chickenpox as well as measles, mumps and rubella.

The panel advised that the vaccine known as MMRV not be given before age 4 and that children in this age group instead get separate vaccines — one against MMR and another for varicella, or chickenpox. The vote was 8-3, with one member abstaining.

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