(AP) — For decades, the government has advised that all babies be vaccinated against the liver infection right after birth. The shots are widely considered to be a public health success for preventing thousands of illnesses.

But a vaccine advisory committee formed by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist before he became the nation’s top health official, is considering whether to recommend the birth dose only for babies whose mothers test positive, which would mark a return to a public health strategy that was abandoned more than three decades ago. The committee plans to vote Friday.