(LOOTPRESS) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee voted Friday to revise its long-standing guidance on when infants should receive their first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.
For more than three decades, the CDC has recommended that newborns receive the vaccine within 24 hours of birth. Under the new proposal, children born to mothers who test negative for hepatitis B would instead receive their first dose at 2 months of age.
In an 8–2 vote, the panel advised that vaccination timing for infants of hepatitis B–negative mothers should be based on individual decision-making between families and their health care providers.
The move drew strong opposition from many medical experts and professional organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), who argue that delaying the birth dose exposes infants to unnecessary risk from a virus that can cause lifelong illness. They emphasized decades of evidence demonstrating the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness.
The vote came on the second day of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) December meeting, after confusion during Thursday’s session prompted a delay. The panel—whose members were appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—opened Friday with a reading of the proposed language, followed by discussion among members and invited experts.
Restef Levi, a mathematician serving on ACIP who has no medical training, forcefully opposed the universal birth dose and repeated the incorrect claim that vaccines have not been “appropriately tested.” Longtime pediatric vaccine experts, including Dr. Cody Meissner, a former FDA vaccine adviser and past ACIP member, and current committee member Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, pushed back on attempts to alter the recommendation. Hibbeln noted the proposed language had already undergone four revisions within 96 hours and said no credible scientific rationale had been presented to justify the change. Meissner stressed that keeping the existing recommendation still allows parents to make their own choices.
“We’ve heard ‘do no harm’ as a moral imperative,” Meissner said in opposing the change. “We are doing harm by changing this wording.”
Since 1991, the hepatitis B vaccine has been universally recommended for newborns in the U.S., contributing to a 99% decline in infant and childhood infections. Hepatitis B is an incurable viral disease that can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer, and early death. Babies infected at birth or during their first year have a 90% likelihood of developing chronic hepatitis B, and about 25% of those individuals die prematurely from related complications.
Because the virus spreads through blood and bodily fluids—and can be transmitted from contaminated surfaces—many schools and child care centers require hepatitis B vaccination. The AAP insists that administering the vaccine shortly after birth offers essential early protection and warns that postponing it leaves infants vulnerable.
“The hepatitis B vaccine has one of the most well-established safety records of any vaccine,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, chair of the AAP’s Committee on Infectious Diseases, ahead of the meeting. “We’ve used it for decades. It remains one of our strongest tools to protect infants from chronic disease and liver cancer.” He added, “This is a situation where one missed case is too many.”
ACIP recommendations are forwarded to the CDC director for approval. States ultimately determine their own vaccine policies, though most follow CDC guidance. Changes to ACIP recommendations can also influence insurance coverage, as private insurers are generally required to cover vaccines the committee endorses.
The hepatitis B birth dose has been a frequent target of vaccine opponents, including Kennedy, who wrongly claimed earlier this year that it is a “likely culprit” in autism. The vaccine’s safety profile is well documented: extensive research shows no link to infant death, fever or sepsis, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune diseases, or other serious conditions. Severe reactions are rare, and studies show no safety benefit from delaying the shot beyond the newborn period.
