FROM NBC NEWS: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel on Friday rolled back a decadeslong recommendation that all newborns get a first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth.
The vote came after a day and a half of heated debate and confusion that included misinterpreted data and pleas from public health experts to uphold recommendations for the vaccine that protects against an incurable infection.
The panel, formally known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — whose members Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired in June and replaced with a group that has largely expressed skepticism of vaccines — recommended that women who test negative for hepatitis B can decide in consultation with a health care provider whether their baby should get the birth dose. The group suggested waiting until at least 2 months of age for the first dose if the vaccine is not given at birth.
Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill must now decide whether to adopt the panel’s recommendations.
🚨ACIP has OFFICIALLY voted 8-3 to END the CDC’s universal recommendation of Hepatitis B vaccines immediately after birth.
The new recommendation encourages “individual-based decision-making” on “when or if to give the HBV vaccine” for HBsAg-negative mothers that considers risks… pic.twitter.com/eh91WU1efg
— Health Freedom Defense Fund (@theHFDF) December 5, 2025
Today, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted in favor of removing the universal hepatitis B vaccine recommendation for infants under 2 months old. pic.twitter.com/xWGH4EQ7go
— CDC (@CDCgov) December 5, 2025
READ MORE AT NBC NEWS
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