Dr. Vicky Pebsworth, from left, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Retsef Levi, Case Western Reserve University Professor Catherine Stein and Dr. Raymond Pollak, hearken to presentations during an Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting to debate childhood vaccine schedule changes on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., December 4, 2025.
Alyssa Pointer | Reuters
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s hand-picked vaccine committee voted on Friday to dispose of the long-standing, universal suggestion that every one babies receive a hepatitis B shot at birth, issuing weaker guidance for certain infants.
The group, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, really useful that oldsters use individual decision-making in consultation with a health-care provider to find out when or if to provide the hepatitis B birth dose to a baby whose mother tested negative for the virus. For babies who don’t receive the birth dose, the committee really useful that they wait to receive a primary vaccine until they’re at the very least 2 months old.
The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still has to log off on that recent suggestion. The CDC currently recommends that each baby get vaccinated against hepatitis B inside 24 hours of birth, no matter their mother’s testing status.
The move overturns that guidance, which has been credited with driving down infections in children by 99% because it was first introduced three a long time ago and is widely considered to be a public health success story. Some members and public health experts warn that the change could have wide-ranging consequences, similar to a rise in infections amongst kids.
Eight members voted yes, while three voted no. Some advisors strongly pushed back on the brand new guidance ahead of the vote.
“This has a fantastic potential to cause harm, and I hope that the committee accepts the responsibility when this harm is caused,” said Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, psychiatrist and voting member.
Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics on the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, said he hopes that pediatricians will proceed to manage the birth dose inside the first 24 hours of delivery and before discharge from the hospital.
“To follow another course just isn’t within the interest of infants,” he said.
Meissner added that more children will likely be injured and can catch hepatitis B infections. Hepatitis B, which may be passed from mother to baby during childbirth, can result in liver disease and early death. Infants are more vulnerable to developing chronic hepatitis B infections, which haven’t any cure.
“We’ll see hepatitis B come back,” he said. “The vaccine is so effective. It doesn’t make sense in my mind to vary the immunization schedule.”
A 2024 CDC study showed that the present vaccination schedule has helped prevent greater than 6 million hepatitis B infections and nearly 1 million hepatitis B-related hospitalizations.
Merck and GSK manufacture the hepatitis B vaccines used starting at birth. Neither of the shots are significant revenue drivers for the businesses, so the brand new recommendations shouldn’t have a fabric impact on their businesses.
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