RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Panel Reverses Universal Recommendation For Hepatitis B Vaccination At Birth
Pediatric health experts say the change has no basis in science.
On Friday, the CDC’s panel of vaccine advisors voted to throw out the universal recommendation that all newborns receive a hepatitis B vaccination within 24 hours of birth.
Instead, the committee voted that only infants of mothers who test positive for the infection, or whose status is unknown, receive the shot immediately. Mothers who test negative should talk to their providers and decide themselves about whether to vaccinate their child, but the panel’s verbiage recommends that they receive it no earlier than 2 months of age.
The vote went through by a margin of 8-3, even though this same approach was tried years ago and deemed a failure.
Hepatitis B is a viral infection that can lead to lifelong and even deadly liver conditions, including cirrhosis, cancer, and liver failure. The virus spreads via some bodily fluids, including during birth, though other close caregivers can also expose children to the virus unknowingly — the U.S. does not currently screen the general population for hepatitis B, and only 25% of infected people are ever diagnosed. The vaccine also provides protection against hepatitis B well into adulthood, preventing later exposure.
When infection occurs at birth, up to 90% of infants will develop chronic hepatitis B and one in four of those children will ultimately die from that liver disease, said Dr. James Campbell, pediatric infectious disease specialist and vice chair of the AAP’s Committee on Infectious Diseases, in a press briefing Friday morning.
“This is a lifesaving protection given to newborns and it has resulted over the last 34 years in a 99% reduction in annual hepatitis B infections among infants and children,” he stated.
This is the latest change to vaccine recommendations courtesy of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s personally assembled Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). In June of this year, RFK Jr. dismissed all 17 sitting members of the committee — which was comprised of infectious disease and epidemiology experts — and replaced them with numerous known vaccine skeptics and anti-vax activists. As they have with all previous recommendations from this new panel, medical experts say the new hep B recommendations will put American children at risk.
“This irresponsible and purposely misleading guidance will lead to more hepatitis B infections in infants and children,” said American Academy of Pediatrics President Susan J. Kressly, MD, FAAP. “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.”
The AAP will continue to recommend routine hepatitis B vaccination for all newborns, according to its statement and Campbell. The organization says all babies should receive a first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth, a second dose at 1 to 2 months of age, and a third dose at 6 months of age. This schedule and these doses have been rigorously tested for safety and efficacy over many decades.
The recommendation to vaccinate some infants at or after 2 months of age has not been studied to verify if it is safe or effective, Campbell said in a press release. “The childhood vaccine schedule is one of the most thoroughly researched tools that we have to protect children from serious and sometimes deadly diseases. Every vaccine and every recommended dose is grounded in solid, strong scientific evidence. There is no evidence that alternative or delayed schedules provide equal protection and no scientific reason to believe that they are safer than the current recommended schedule on vaccines.”
During Thursday’s meeting, discussion among panel members became heated. Some went as far as to blame immigrants for the confirmed cases of hepatitis B in the United States even though it affects roughly 2.4 million citizens of all races and statuses. The virus carries some stigma because it can also be transmitted via shared needles (or accidental needle sticks for health care workers), and skyrocketed as a result of America’s opioid crisis.
Campbell also railed against the ACIP’s suggestion that families and doctors are not already engaging in thoughtful discussion and personal decision-making about vaccines. “It is insulting to for people who do not provide healthcare to believe that there are not currently individual decisions made between healthcare providers and their patients and families. It has always been the case that we pediatric care providers spend time talking to families about risks, benefits, recommendations, rationale. We already have individual decision making, but we also think it's important that when it will protect children, that both the federal government and pediatricians say, well, we’ve looked at the data, we’ve seen what the risks and benefits are, and because of that we are recommending this for you.”
One silver lining: because hepatitis B vaccination is “bundled” with other newborn care at hospitals and birth centers, access and insurance coverage should not become an issue for families who still choose the birth dose for their child, Campbell said.
