U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Vaccine-Aversive

Members of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) are seen during a meeting at CDC headquarters on December 4, 2025 in Atlanta, Ga  Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

"We will see hepatitis infections come back."

"The vaccine is so effective, it does not make sense in my mind to change the immunization schedule."

"This disease has become a victim of the vaccine. We’re seeing disease rates go down because of the effectiveness of the vaccine."

"It’s a mistake to say that because we’re not seeing much disease, we can alter the roots or the frequency or the schedule for administration. Because we will see hepatitis B infections come back." 

Dr. H. Cody Meissner, professor of pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth 

 

"I want to reassure parents and clinicians that there is no new or concerning information about the hepatitis B vaccine that is prompting this change, nor has children’s risk of contracting hepatitis B changed."

"Instead, this is the result of a deliberate strategy to sow fear and distrust among families."

Dr. Susan J. Kressly, president American Academy of Pediatrics 

A slide appears on a screen during a meeting of the ACIP to discuss the childhood vaccine schedule, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Thursday. (Alyssa Pointer/Reuters)

 

 In the United States, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices approved a change in hepatitis vaccines normally given to newborns. The panel voted that the long-standing recommendation for all newborns to be vaccinated against hepatitis B, be discontinued. The most significant change yet to be authorized under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., infamously resistant to vaccines, who reacted to the recommendation as a successful public health initiative.

 

Fierce objections from medical groups who consider that the longstanding strategy had achieved its aims in almost eradicating the dangerous virus among American children, made no dent in the panel's majority decision. The vote was 8 to 3  to eliminate the recommendation which dated from 1991, regulating that all children receive a first dose of a hepatitis B vaccine soon after birth.

 

According to the panel's decision, that shot for babies born to mothers testing negative for the virus is no longer a requirement, suggesting that parents of newborns delay the first dose for up to two months in consultation with their doctors whether or when to begin administering the three-dose series. Those in support of the change claim the universal recommendation was overly broad, regardless of risk, and had the effect of undermining informed choice.

John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

 

An Advisory Committee panelist -- Retsef Levi -- who voted the language be changed, believes the intention is to alert parents toward personal choice, whether they would wish to expose their child to yet another vaccine. "It's actually suggesting a fundamental change in their approach to this vaccine and maybe more broadly", stated Dr. Levi, a professor of operations management at MIT. 

 

The die is cast, with the recommendation from the group -- comprised of outside government advisers -- sent to the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for final approval. According to medical experts, it is vital to vaccinate all newborns for hepatitis B, irrespective of whether their mothers test negative, since babies are at risk of infection if their mothers receive false negatives or if they become infected following testing.

 

Some of the panel members in disagreement with the majority decision were vocal in opposition. The revised guidance on hepatitis B was an unconscionable decision, one of the panelists stated, as another stated the move was rooted in "baseless skepticism". Parents would still be able to have their newborns vaccinated for hepatitis B under the new recommendations, should they wish to, and insurance would still pay. 

 

Public health advocates on the other hand, feel the new approach would have the effect of creating unnecessary fears with respect to the vaccine. Child vaccines, including for hepatitis B, have long been a point of contention in Health Secretary Kennedy's mind. He undertook to appoint those he knew felt as he did, to the vaccine committee. Dr. Meissner, a dissenting member of the committee, emphasized the success of the 1991 protocol, and warned: "Do no harm is a moral imperative. We are doing harm by changing this wording."

 

People protest outside the meeting to discuss childhood vaccine schedule changes in Atlanta Thursday. (Alyssa Pointer/Reuters)