ATLANTA — 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.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s revamped Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has struck its first blow against established vaccine practice, recommending against the use of flu shots which contain a preservative that has been used in shots for decades.

The seven new members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, picked by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who replaced the previous 17-member ACIP, first met on Wednesday with