A US advisory panel appointed by President Donald Trump's vaccine-sceptic health secretary has voted to stop recommending that all newborns in the United States receive a hepatitis B vaccine.

The move by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to end the decades-old recommendation is its latest contentious about-face on vaccine policy since its overhaul by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr earlier this year.

US health authorities previously recommended that all babies, not just those born to mothers believed to have hepatitis B, receive the first of three vaccine doses just after birth.

The approach – aimed, in part, at preventing transfers from mothers who unknowingly had hepatitis B or had falsely tested negative – had virtually eradicated infections of the potentially deadly liver disease among young people in the country.

After delaying the vote by a day, the panel on Friday passed its new recommendation by an eight-to-three margin for "individual-based decision-making," in consultation with a healthcare provider, when children are born to mothers testing negatively for the disease.

The decision to vaccinate at birth should "consider vaccine benefits, vaccine risks, and infection risks".

Trump hailed the move as "a very good decision" on his Truth Social platform.

But the new recommendation was immediately condemned by several medical groups who noted widespread shortcomings in US maternal health screening as well as the possibility of infections from others.

"This irresponsible and purposely misleading guidance will lead to more hepatitis B infections in infants and children," American Academy of Pediatrics president Susan J Kressly said in a statement.

Trump-appointed officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expected to formally adopt the recommendations at a later date.

The panel also voted to recommend that babies who are not vaccinated at birth wait at least two months to get the initial dose, and that blood tests be done to measure antibodies before a second dose.

After becoming health secretary, Kennedy sacked every member of the once-staid advisory committee, replacing them with figures whose vaccine-sceptic views track more closely with his own.

It has since set to work on reviewing prior recommendations -- already tweaking advice on Covid-19 and measles shots.

The United States had urged universal vaccination at birth against hepatitis B since 1991, advice also recommended by China, Australia and the World Health Organization. (AFP)