By Blessing Nweke
A US government vaccine advisory panel has voted to end more than three decades of recommending that all newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, a major shift that has triggered swift political and public health reactions across the country.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (Acip) voted 8-3 on Friday to endorse “individual-based decision-making” for babies born to mothers who test negative for hepatitis B. The move rolls back a policy in place since 1991, which experts say has prevented tens of thousands of deaths from the liver infection.
The vote followed months of turbulence at the committee after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine sceptic, dismissed all previous members in June and replaced them with advisers critical of existing vaccine policy.
Hours after the vote, President Donald Trump ordered top health officials to conduct a sweeping review of all US childhood immunisation recommendations. In a White House memo, he instructed agencies to compare US schedules with those in “peer, developed countries” and revise guidelines if others are deemed superior. Trump praised the Acip decision as “very good” in an online post.
Several Acip members voiced strong objections before the final vote. Dr Cody Meissner warned that scaling back the birth-dose recommendation would inevitably lead to “more children and adolescents and adults infected with hepatitis B.” Critics also challenged the new guidance suggesting infants who skip the birth dose receive their first shot no earlier than two months of age.
Public health leaders echoed those concerns. They note that hepatitis B can spread unknowingly through household contact—including shared razors and toothbrushes—and that not all pregnant patients receive reliable HBV testing.
The panel continues to recommend immediate vaccination for newborns whose mothers test positive. Maryland’s health department quickly issued an advisory urging hospitals to maintain birth-dose practices, citing American Academy of Pediatrics guidance.
Hepatitis B can cause chronic liver disease, cancer and, in severe cases, liver failure.
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