Vaccine advisers recently appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voted on Thursday to stop recommending flu vaccines containing thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative used to prevent bacterial contamination, to children and pregnant women.

ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new vaccine advisory committee backed another option to protect infants against a dangerous virus — before turning to questions about fall flu vaccines and a preservative in a small fraction of them that some antivaccine groups have falsely tied to autism.

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.