Overview
- ACIP voted 8–3 to end the universal hepatitis B shot at birth, keeping the birth dose for infants of mothers who test positive or whose status is unknown and advising shared decision-making and a delay to at least two months for others.
- The recommendation is not in effect until signed by the acting CDC director, and ACIP guidance typically shapes coverage and practice even though the agency is not required to adopt it.
- Major medical groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association urged rejection of the change, warning it undermines a proven safety net given imperfect maternal screening and decades of data showing a 95–99% drop in pediatric cases with the birth dose.
- Multiple states and regional coalitions, including the Northeast Public Health Collaborative and the West Coast Health Alliance, plus health departments in New York, Michigan, New Mexico and Colorado and hospitals such as Lurie Children’s, say they will continue universal birth-dose policies and are taking steps to preserve access.
- Modeling from OHSU projects that delaying the birth dose could yield more than 1,400 additional pediatric infections in the first year and later hundreds of liver cancers and deaths, while insurers including Blue Cross Blue Shield and AHIP say they will continue to cover the hepatitis B vaccine, including the birth dose.