ATLANTA — The CDC’s vaccine advisory panel is set to begin a two-day meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday in Atlanta, where members will consider potential changes to several key childhood and adult immunizations. The meeting comes as the agency faces leadership changes and growing public attention.

The panel’s recommendations carry significant weight, since most health care providers follow its guidance and insurers often use it to determine which vaccines they will cover.

According to the CDC’s agenda, members are expected to open with a discussion of the MMRV vaccine, a combined shot for measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox. Later in the day, the panel will take up the hepatitis B vaccine, which is currently recommended for all infants and most adults.

One proposal would delay the vaccine for infants until later in life. On Friday, the panel is scheduled to spend the full day discussing COVID-19 vaccines.

The meeting follows testimony Wednesday on Capitol Hill from recently ousted CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez. She told lawmakers she believes she was fired because she refused to sign off on vaccine policy decisions not backed by science, a directive she claims came from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy has denied her account.

“Based on what I observed during my tenure, there is a real risk that recommendations could be made restricting access to vaccines for children and others in need without rigorous scientific review,” Monarez said in her prepared remarks. “With no permanent CDC director in place, those recommendations could be adopted.”

Former CDC Deputy Director Dr. Deborah Houry, who resigned after Monarez’s dismissal, also testified. “I’m very concerned about the public health in our country,” she said. “We’re not on a path to be healthier, we’re not ready for the next pandemic.”

The panel could recommend changes such as separating the MMR vaccine from the chickenpox shot or altering the age at which hepatitis B is given, moves that would mark major shifts in longstanding guidelines.

The two-day meeting is scheduled to continue through Friday.