A group of outside advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted 5-2 to recommend use of a new shot that can protect babies from respiratory syncytial virus, adding an additional tool against the most common cause of hospitalization in infants.

The votes in favor of Merck's shot are a sigh of relief after Kennedy gutted the panel and tapped replacements, some of whom are well-known vaccine critics.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s newly revamped vaccine advisory panel voted on Thursday to recommend Americans receive seasonal influenza shots that are free from the mercury-based preservative thimerosal despite decades of studies showing no related safety issues.