MIAMI — On Friday, advisors appointed by an anti-vaccine advocate voted to change course on what has been a more than 30-year recommendation of the hepatitis B vaccine for all infants.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine advisory committee voted to recommend the birth dose only for babies whose mothers test positive or whose infection status is unknown.

The vaccine has been recommended at birth since 1991.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes the shot as safe and effective and it has been recommended for all infants to mitigate against life-threatening issues, including liver cancer and liver failure later in life, in the event they’re infected at birth by their mother.

Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious disease expert at Florida International University and a World Health Organization senior advisor, noted issues that may now arise following the vote.

“When you don’t have universal coverage as the universal recommendation, you also have the drawback that insurance companies may not cover the vaccine,” Marty said.

Marty criticized the panel, hand-picked by Kennedy, a longtime figure in the anti-vaccine movement

“The science has not changed. We still know and (the) WHO still recommends to give the vaccine at birth,” she said. “Their only reasons that they provided in that conference had to do with maternal and paternal fears, not with science, not with evidence-based studies.”

The CDC currently lacks a permanent director. Its acting director is a biotech investor.

Meanwhile, some states are now working to ensure the vaccine remains covered by insurance companies.

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