Changes to Newborn Hepatitis B Vaccination Recommendations are Coming
In the next few days, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will meet to review the long-standing recommendation that newborns receive a dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth.
Although ACIP meetings are routine, this one is drawing extraordinary attention. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed the prior 17-member committee earlier this year and appointed several individuals known for questioning vaccine safety. Public health experts worry the meeting may promote misinformation that confuses families and undermines decades of progress.
Hepatitis B is far more infectious than HIV and spreads through microscopic amounts of blood and bodily fluids. The virus survives on surfaces for up to a week, meaning babies can be exposed even when no one appears sick. Before universal newborn vaccination began in 1991, pediatric liver cancer and fatal hepatitis B infections were tragically common in some communities.
Dr. Brian McMahon, a liver specialist in Alaska, witnessed the devastation firsthand. He treated teenagers and young children who developed liver cancer after acquiring hepatitis B at birth or in early childhood. After communities adopted newborn vaccination, he says something remarkable happened: pediatric liver cancer disappeared, and no child under 30 in those regions has been infected since.
That progress is now at risk.
Kennedy and others have repeatedly made false claims, including suggesting the vaccine causes autism or that hepatitis B is “not casually contagious.” Former President Trump recently echoed another misconception by calling the virus “primarily sexually transmitted,” despite decades of evidence showing it spreads easily through indirect contact, shared household items, or undetected maternal infection.
The science remains clear.
When given within 24 hours of birth, the hepatitis B vaccine is up to 90% effective at preventing transmission from an infected parent. Completing the full series gives 98% of children long-lasting immunity. The vaccine has an exceptional safety profile, with the most common reactions being short-lived fussiness or crying.
Experts caution that delaying newborn vaccination even by a few weeks can leave infants unprotected at a time when infection can silently take hold and lead to lifelong liver disease. As ACIP meets, families are encouraged to speak with their medical providers, ask questions, and seek evidence-based guidance.
