Overview
- The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 6–3 to postpone a decision and set a new vote for Friday after last‑minute wording changes caused confusion.
- The panel is weighing whether to drop the routine birth dose for infants whose mothers test negative and instead rely on prenatal testing or shared clinical decision‑making.
- A revision would not prohibit vaccinating at birth but could end Medicaid and other public coverage requirements for the dose, potentially limiting access for low‑income families.
- Public‑health experts credit the birth dose, in place since 1991, with sharply reducing pediatric hepatitis B and warn that delaying the first shot to two months could add about 1,400 infections each year.
- The review follows the committee’s recent overhaul under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., drawing criticism from medical groups, as local officials in Polk County, Iowa, report a rise in perinatal cases.