Delaying Birth Dose of Hepatitis B Vaccine is a Public Health Tragedy
WASHINGTON, D.C. –The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) voted 8 to 3 to recommend replacing the long-standing practice of administering the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine at birth to all newborns with “individual-based decision-making, in consultation with a health care provider, for parents deciding whether to give the HBV vaccine birth dose to infants born to women who are HBsAg- (hepatitis B surface antigen) negative.” The term “HBsAg-negative” means that a person does not have an active hepatitis B virus infection at the time of the test.
If signed off on by federal health officials, the recommendation should maintain the availability of the vaccine for all newborns regardless of their mother’s hepatitis B virus infection status, as well as insurance coverage for a birth dose. At present, the CDC recommends the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine at birth with subsequent doses at one or two months, and between six and 18 months of age. The recommendation does not affect the current practice of administering a birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine and hepatitis B immunoglobulin for infants born to women who test positive for hepatitis B or with an unknown status.
Dr. Robert Steinbrook, Health Research Group Director at Public Citizen, issued the following statement:
“Delaying a birth dose of the safe and effective hepatitis B vaccine is senseless and will do real harm. Fewer infants will be vaccinated against a potentially deadly disease, more people will likely be infected, and some will develop chronic hepatitis B infection and life-threatening liver disease. For 35 years, vaccination at birth has protected millions of newborns against a preventable disease, and the hepatitis vaccine has now become a victim of its own success. Upending a public health success because of baseless doubts about vaccine safety is a tragedy in the making.
“The continuing mindless and shameful assault of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s handpicked ACIP on evidence-based policy will only confuse the public and clinicians, and undermine trust in the safety and effectiveness of potentially life-saving immunizations. Now more than ever, states, medical professional societies, and health insurers must do what the federal government is unwilling to do: provide the public with sound vaccine guidance.”