An influential federal vaccine committee voted Friday to end the decades-long recommendation that all newborns be immunized at birth against hepatitis B, drawing criticism from medical experts in Maine and across the U.S.
After contentious debate, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 8-3 to lift the recommendation and said women who test negative for the virus should consult with their doctors to “decide when or if” their child will be vaccinated at birth.
Critics say stripping away the recommendation puts children at risk and could make it harder for parents to access the vaccine. The decision by the panel will not prevent parents from having the hepatitis B vaccine given at birth, but experts say that without the recommendation fewer infants will receive it.
Dr. Laura Blaisdell, immediate past president of the Maine chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in an interview with the Press Herald on Friday that the “science has not changed.” She said getting the hepatitis B vaccine shortly after birth prevents transmission of the virus from mom to infant.
“We are being subjected to a fringe agenda, to misinformation,” said Blaisdell, a Portland pediatrician. “People are opting out of vaccines because our highest-level health officials in our country are sowing distrust in vaccines.”
The U.S. CDC’s recommendation for a hepatitis B vaccine at birth has been in place since 1991 and, since then, infections among those receiving the vaccine have decreased by 99%, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Lindsay Hammes, a spokesperson for the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said the state agency continues to recommend the hepatitis B vaccine be given at birth.
“The science supports timely vaccination as a vital public health measure, ensuring that all infants receive immediate protection, which is a critical safety net essential to protecting the health of our youngest and most vulnerable population,” Hammes said in a statement Friday.
Dr. Cody Meissner, one of the three members of the federal panel members to vote no, said thousands of children will contract liver diseases if the recommendations are adopted.
“We are doing harm by changing this wording,” Meissner said.
The U.S. CDC makes the final decision on vaccine recommendations, but typically aligns with the advisory panel. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who handpicked members of the panel, has long advocated for overhauling the childhood vaccine schedule.
More than 6 million hepatitis B illnesses were prevented by routine childhood immunizations between 1994 and 2023, according to a study published last year by the CDC.
Medical experts argue it’s important to vaccinate all newborns for hepatitis B because babies are at risk of contracting the infectious virus. Without vaccination, 9 in 10 babies infected with hepatitis B will develop chronic liver infections, according to Johns Hopkins.
The panel said the newborn shot is no longer necessary for babies born to mothers who have tested negative for the virus and suggested parents delay the first dose for at least two months.
Dr. Robert Malone, the panel’s vice chairman who voted in favor of the hepatitis B recommendations, said parents have the right to choose whether they should vaccinate their children and that was part of the reason he voted yes.
“There are these two fundamental differences of opinion about the rights of individuals versus the rights of society,” Malone said.
The Maine Medical Association, an advocacy group for doctors, was joined by several other professional health organizations in the state in condemning the recommendations.
“As frontline clinicians, we understand the complexity of ensuring every newborn is
protected. Evidence-based universal schedules eliminate ambiguity, reduce missed doses,
and promote equitable care for all patients,” Dr. Brian Youth, president of the Maine chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in a statement on Friday.
In another vote on Friday, the ACIP recommended that infants receive a blood test after the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine and that parents be given the results to let them choose whether to opt out of future doses. The hepatitis B vaccine is a three-dose regimen that provides lifelong protection against the disease.
Blaisdell said there’s no scientific reason to do the blood test after the first dose.
“Not taking all three doses would be like not finishing a course of antibiotics,” Blaisdell said. “Why do we finish our antibiotics? So the infection doesn’t come back.”
American Families for Vaccines spokesperson Caitlin Gilmet, who helped start Maine Families for Vaccines, said the panel’s recommendation is “unscientific, puts kids at risk and is totally unnecessary.”
Gilmet said the federal panel “has been dismantled to the point that it’s not the expert body we have counted on for decades to make these decisions for our families.”