An advisory panel of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday recommended the use of Merck's respiratory syncytial virus therapy, Enflonsia, for infants 8 months or younger, whose mothers did not receive a preventive shot during pregnancy.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has a long history of sowing doubt about vaccine safety, this month fired all 17 members of a CDC vaccine advisory panel and replaced them with his own picks.

The revamped panel voted 5-2 in favor of Merck's antibody drug.

It also unanimously voted in favor of Enflonsia being added to CDC's Vaccines for Children program, which will provide the preventive drug free of charge to those without insurance.