Trendpills
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) vaccine advisory committee is set to meet on December 4-5 to discuss and potentially vote on its hepatitis B vaccine policy. The meeting has drawn significant attention due to a controversial proposal regarding the timing of the vaccine's first dose for newborns.
The upcoming session will revisit a topic that the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) previously addressed in September. During that meeting, the panel postponed a vote on a recommendation to delay the initial hepatitis B vaccine dose for most newborns. The proposal suggested that infants whose mothers test negative for the disease could receive their first shot at one month of age instead of at birth, a significant departure from long-standing guidance.
The renewed focus on the birth dose comes after a significant restructuring of the advisory panel earlier this year. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaced the committee members with his own nominees. This move has sparked alarm among public health advocates, with some critics labeling the new committee as ideologically driven.
Organizations like Democracy Forward and the National Health Law Program have raised concerns, warning that an "anti-science" agenda could jeopardize public health. In a formal comment letter to the committee, these groups highlighted what they described as procedural irregularities and legal violations in the panel's process, arguing that political motivations are overriding scientific evidence. Public health experts stress the importance of the birth dose, as infants who contract hepatitis B have a 90% chance of developing a chronic infection, which can lead to severe liver disease and cancer. The discussions at the previous ACIP meeting were postponed partly because the panel concluded it had not sufficiently reviewed the vaccine's safety and effectiveness.
The December meeting's agenda also includes discussions on the overall childhood and adolescent immunization schedule and vaccine safety. The outcome of the hepatitis B vote is being closely watched by medical professionals and advocacy groups, who fear that a change in policy could reverse decades of progress in preventing the viral infection.
