RFK Jr’s vaccine committee voted, 8 to 3, to do away with the long-standing universal recommendation that babies receive a hepatitis B shot at birth. This group, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and handpicked by RFK Jr, recommended that parents use individual decision-making in consultation with a health-care provider to determine when or if to give the hepatitis B vaccine at birth to a baby whose mother tested negative for the virus.
The committee recommended that babies who don’t receive the dose at birth wait until they are two months old to receive their first vaccine. This overturns the CDC’s previous universal advice that babies get vaccinated for hepatitis B within 24 hours of birth, regardless of their mother’s status, which has been credited with driving down infections in children by 99% since it was introduced over thirty years ago. Some public health experts warn that the change could increase infections in children.
The ACIP’s vote only affects the timing of the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. The second dose would still be given one to two months after birth, with a third dose between 6 and 18 months. Pregnant individuals are supposed to be tested for hepatitis B before giving birth, but results can be false negatives, and some people can still get infected after being tested. Babies can also be infected by other people they may come in contact with.
“Our country’s health is being harmed by a man who has no medical background. The decision made by the ACIP to roll back universal hepatitis B vaccination for babies is dangerous. What the hell is happening?” posted Dr. Tonia L. Farmer on Threads.
Farmer wasn’t involved in the decision-making process, but echoed the sentiment of many in the healthcare community. Just a few weeks ago, EBONY chatted with Dr. Donna Adams-Pickett about RFK Jr.’s misleading claim linking acetaminophen to autism, and how patients can establish a trusting relationship with their doctors in times when medical misinformation and unfounded claims are prevalent.
“What’s frustrating about that is that in the United States, the FDA is probably the most rigorous of all the drug, organism and regulator organizations in the world. It takes decades for products to reach the market,” she told EBONY. “So, when we make recommendations, we aren’t making them just out of the blue.”