In a landmark decision with significant public health implications, the US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has voted to discontinue the universal hepatitis B vaccination protocol for newborns that has been standard medical practice since 1991. The committee, whose membership was entirely reconstituted in June by Vaccine-Skeptic Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., approved the policy shift with an 8-3 majority vote.
The new guidelines establish a paradigm shift from mandatory immunization to individualized decision-making for infants born to mothers who test negative for hepatitis B. These newborns would receive their initial vaccine dose no earlier than two months of age rather than immediately after birth. The committee maintained the existing recommendation that infants born to HBV-positive mothers continue to receive the birth-dose vaccination.
This policy reversal occurs despite compelling evidence demonstrating the vaccine’s remarkable efficacy. Data from the past three decades indicates that routine newborn immunization has prevented approximately 90,000 HBV-related deaths in the United States. Medical experts expressed profound concern during committee deliberations that the policy change might fuel unwarranted safety concerns and ultimately increase infection rates.
Dr. Cody Meissner, one of several dissenting committee members, emphasized before the vote: ‘The hepatitis B vaccine recommendation is very well established. We know it’s safe and we know it’s very effective. Implementing these proposed changes will inevitably result in more children, adolescents and adults becoming infected with hepatitis B.’
Hepatitis B remains a serious liver infection transmitted through bodily fluids that can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure, and cancer. The virus presents particular danger to infants as it can be transmitted during childbirth from infected mothers, often developing into chronic infections that cause progressive liver damage. Many carriers remain asymptomatic, unknowingly transmitting the virus while caring for children.
The ACIP’s recommendations will now proceed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where the acting director holds final authority for implementation. Public health experts nationwide are monitoring how this controversial decision might impact vaccination rates and future disease prevalence.