Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new vaccine panel just moved to scrap a universal newborn hepatitis B shot that cut childhood infections by 99%, gambling with infant health in the name of “individual choice.”
Story Snapshot
- RFK Jr.’s handpicked HHS vaccine panel voted to end the universal hepatitis B shot at birth for U.S. newborns.
- New guidance pushes “individual decision-making” for babies of hepatitis B-negative mothers and delays shots for some until 2 months.
- CDC’s acting director must still approve the change, creating a high-stakes showdown over infant health and parental choice.
- Leading doctors and the AMA warn that the move risks more infant infections and reverses decades of public health gains.
RFK Jr.’s Panel Targets Long-Standing Newborn Hepatitis B Protection
Kennedy’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted on December 5, 2025, to abandon the long-standing recommendation that every baby receive a hepatitis B shot within 24 hours of birth.
The committee instead promoted a weaker standard that treats vaccination as an individualized choice for infants whose mothers test negative for hepatitis B. By targeting the universal rule, the panel reversed a three-decade public health practice credited with sharply reducing childhood infections.
Under the new recommendation, parents of babies born to hepatitis B-negative mothers are urged to decide with their own health-care provider when, or even if, to give the birth dose.
For newborns who skip that shot, the panel recommends delaying hepatitis B vaccination until at least 2 months of age. The second and third doses of the series would still follow the familiar schedule, with the next shot at one to two months and a final dose between six and eighteen months.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s hand-picked vaccine committee voted on Friday to do away with the long-standing, universal recommendation that all babies receive a hepatitis B shot at birth, issuing weaker guidance for certain infants. https://t.co/btpVnMnLJE pic.twitter.com/fiAIRl5n9d
— CNBC (@CNBC) December 5, 2025
CDC Sign-Off Will Decide Whether Guidance Becomes National Policy
The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must still sign off before the new recommendation officially replaces the current federal standard. Today, CDC guidance clearly states that every baby should receive the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth, regardless of maternal testing.
Public health experts widely view that universal approach as a success story that reduced childhood infections by an estimated 99% over roughly 30 years, protecting millions of families.
Several committee members and outside experts warn that weakening the birth-dose standard could have wide-ranging consequences, particularly for children in households with undetected infections.
Although all pregnant women are supposed to be screened for hepatitis B, tests can miss infections, and some mothers contract the virus later in pregnancy. Babies can also be exposed to infected relatives or caregivers after birth.
Critics of the new policy argue that the birth dose acts as a safety net when paperwork, testing, or real-world circumstances fall short.
Deep Division Inside RFK Jr.’s Overhauled Vaccine Committee
The controversial vote followed RFK Jr.’s sweeping overhaul of the panel, where he removed prior members and installed a dozen new appointees, including known vaccine skeptics. The reconstituted committee met over two days in Atlanta, with its hepatitis B decision becoming the most closely watched outcome.
When the matter finally came to a vote, eight members supported the weaker guidance and three opposed it. The narrow margin reflected deep disagreement about how much weight to give existing safety data versus speculative developmental concerns.
Psychiatrist and voting member Dr. Joseph Hibbeln strongly opposed the change, warning that the decision “has a great potential to cause harm” and stressing that the committee must accept responsibility if vaccine-preventable infections injure children.
Pediatrician Dr. Cody Meissner, another voting member and professor at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, urged colleagues and front-line doctors to keep administering the birth dose within 24 hours and before hospital discharge.
He argued that deviating from that practice “is not in the interest of infants” and predicted rising infections.
Medical Community and Industry Warn of Backsliding on Infant Health
Major medical organizations responded with unusually sharp criticism. The American Medical Association called the vote “reckless” and said it undermines decades of public confidence in a proven, lifesaving vaccine.
The AMA emphasized that the decision was not grounded in new scientific evidence and warned it would confuse parents trying to protect their newborns.
Other committee members noted that no credible data support a two-month delay in the first dose, while extensive research documents the safety of vaccinating in the newborn period.
Some members expressed concerns about administering vaccines during the neonatal window, noting it is a critical phase for brain and immune development. However, decades of clinical experience and studies show the hepatitis B shot has been safely given to newborns without evidence of harm.
A 2024 CDC analysis estimated that the current schedule has prevented more than six million infections and nearly one million hospitalizations related to hepatitis B. Opponents argue that dismantling the universal birth-dose rule discards those gains without any offsetting health benefit.
Risk Calculations, Household Exposure, and Conservative Concerns
Hepatitis B spreads through blood and bodily fluids and can be passed from mother to child during delivery or early infancy. Because newborns who become infected are far more likely to develop chronic, lifelong infections that can cause liver disease and early death, many pediatricians view the birth dose as essential risk insurance.
They note that paperwork errors, false-negative maternal tests, and later household exposures are real-world problems, especially in busy hospitals and complex family situations where details easily fall through the cracks.
Merck and GSK manufacture the hepatitis B vaccines used at birth, but the shots are not major revenue drivers, so the recommendation change is unlikely to affect corporate profits significantly.
Even so, Merck issued a statement expressing deep concern that the panel’s vote could reverse decades of progress and put infants at unnecessary risk of chronic infection, liver cancer, and death.
The company stressed that no evidence supports delaying vaccination. GSK said it is awaiting more information and formal CDC adoption before assessing the full impact.
The panel’s decision will not affect insurance coverage for hepatitis B vaccination, including through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, according to a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services policy analyst who briefed the committee.
That means families will still have financial access to the vaccine even if the schedule shifts. For conservative parents who value both medical freedom and strong protections for children, the upcoming CDC sign-off decision will be a key moment to watch, as federal guidance shapes hospital routines nationwide.
