CDC vaccine advisory committee votes to remove universal recommendation for hepatitis B shot at bir
A federal vaccine advisory committee voted on Friday to end the longstanding recommendation that all U.S. babies get the hepatitis B vaccine on the day they're born.
A loud chorus of medical and public health leaders decried the actions of the panel, whose current members were all appointed by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - a leading anti-vaccine activist before this year becoming the nation's top health official.
"This is the group that can't shoot straight," said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccine expert who for decades has been involved with ACIP and its workgroups.
#cdc #health #news #fyp https://6abc.com/post/us-vaccine-advisers-say-not-babies-need-hepatitis-shot-birth/18254012/
So, now the details at 5:30. In a major
reversal, a CDC advisory committee has
voted to stop recommending hepatitis B
shots for all newborns. Now, this
decision goes against widespread public
health consensus that's been in place
for decades. Late this afternoon, over
40 medical groups shared a joint
statement today saying they are deeply
alarmed by this decision. ABC's Olivia
Rubin explains what's next.
>> Today, a major reversal from the CDC. An
advisory committee voting to no longer
recommend the hepatitis B vaccine for
newborns of moms that test negative. The
reversal putting an end to a
recommendation that has been in place
for over 30 years. It was voted on by a
panel put in place by HHS Secretary
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who has long
pushed vaccine conspiracies.
>> Sad that there are people on this
committee who didn't bring up any of the
real world benefits. Former CDC chief of
vaccines Dmitri Dascalakis resigned from
the committee earlier this year.
>> I think that what you're seeing is
ideology supplanting science,
conspiracies supplanting process.
>> He slammed the move saying it will
create confusion.
>> Access remains the same but creates
doubt, confusion, and will result in
more children getting hepatitis B and
ultimately then getting chronic
hepatitis B. 90% of them will if they're
infected and 25% of them will die early.
>> Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who
voted to confirm Kennedy, also rebuking
the decision, writing, "As a liver
doctor who has treated patients with
hepatitis B for decades, this change to
the vaccine schedule is a mistake. The
hepatitis B vaccine is safe and
effective. The birth dose is a
recommendation, not a mandate." Acting
CDC Director Jim O'Neal is expected to
sign off on the recommendation, which
should not affect insurance coverage of
the shot. But the recommendation now
says vaccine decisions should be made in
consultation with a doctor, mainly if
the mother tests negative, who can then
decide when or if to vaccinate their
child for the highly infectious disease.
Olivia Rubin, ABC News, New