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.

Merck's Enflonsia vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus won approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s newly revamped vaccine advisory panel voted on Thursday to recommend use of Merck's recently approved RSV antibody drug for infants 8 months or younger whose mothers did not receive a preventive shot during pregnancy.