RFK Jr.’s Handpicked Advisers Change Hepatitis B Vaccine Guidance
A federal vaccine advisory committee hand-picked by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vote Friday to recommend delaying hepatitis B vaccination for most newborns.
The 8-3 vote by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices reverses the government’s long-standing position that all babies should be vaccinated against liver infection at birth. The group now recommends that the vaccine – which has helped prevent thousands of illnesses – be given only to infants whose mothers test positive or have not been tested.
If parents or guardians decide not to get vaccinated at the time of birth, the commission vote recommends that the baby receive the dose at two months. Committee member Dr. Cody Meissner expressed his reservations, saying, “We are doing harm by changing this wording, and I am voting no.” »
When asked by The Associated Press on Thursday why the committee chose to reexamine this vaccine, committee member Vicky Pebsworth said it was because of “pressure from stakeholder groups wanting the policy reexamined” but did not elaborate. A Kennedy spokesperson did not respond to a question on the subject. Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician and liver specialist, called the committee “totally discredited” THURSDAY.
In 2022, long skeptical of vaccines Kennedy said the hepatitis B vaccine “was designed for prostitutes and promiscuous homosexuals.” However, the virus is not transmitted only through sexual contact: even contact with small amounts of infected blood can put a person at risk.
Now the decision on whether to accept the recommendation rests with the acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Jim O’Neill. But the American Academy of Pediatrics plans to continue promoting existing CDC guidelines for babies to receive the first dose of the vaccine at birth, followed by a second at one to two months, with the third dose coming between six and 18 months.
At least one state will also continue to recommend the hepatitis B vaccine at birth: said Governor Maura Healey of Massachusetts. CNN Thursday that “DC, the Trump administration, RFK, this panel, they are not doing their job. And in the face of that, as governor, I’m going to do mine.”
Since newborns began receiving the hepatitis B vaccine in 1991, we have seen a 99% reduction in pediatric infections.
Now RFK Jr. and his conspiracy theorists want to undo all that progress.
Here in Massachusetts, I won’t let that happen. pic.twitter.com/XahJi7UDVv-Maura Healey (@maura_healey) December 5, 2025
