A vaccine advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) voted to change the recommendations for when children receive the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.
In an 8-3 decision, the board moved to recommend that individual decision-making in health care decisions include whether or not an infant is to receive the vaccine.
Language surrounding the vote, as per Contemporary Pediatrics, was: “For infants born to HBsAg-negative women: ACIP recommends individual-based decision-making, in consultation with a health care provider, for parents deciding when or if to give the HBV vaccine, including the birth dose. A Parents and health care providers should consider vaccine benefits, vaccine risks, and infection risks. For those not receiving the HBV birth dose, it is suggested that the initial dose is administered no earlier than 2 months of age.”
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) criticized the decision, declaring that the “change to the vaccine schedule is a mistake,” and further emphasized that the hepatitis B vaccine is “safe and effective.”
“Before the birth dose was recommended, 20,000 newborns a year were infected with hepatitis B. Now, it’s fewer than 20. Ending the recommendation for newborns makes it more likely the number of cases will begin to increase again. This makes America sicker,” he wrote. “Acting CDC Director O’Neill should not sign these new recommendations and instead retain the current, evidence-based approach.”
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said earlier this year that he does not believe that infants need the vaccine. “It’s a sexually transmitted infection you’re trying to prevent,” he told Martha MacCallum of Fox News. “Kids are not sexually active until they’re of sexual age. So, a lot of parents say we’re going to wait until they’re 10, or 11, or 12.”
