Kennedy’s Vaccine Plan Could Cause Surge in Hepatitis B, Study Finds

Key Points:

• A new study warns that ending universal newborn hepatitis B vaccination, as recommended by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., could significantly increase chronic infections and put over half of Americans at risk by age 20.
• Hepatitis B is a highly contagious virus that can cause serious liver diseases, and the U.S. has long administered the first vaccine dose within 24 hours of birth to prevent infection.
• Kennedy's advisory panel suggested that infants born to mothers who test negative for hepatitis B should receive the vaccine no earlier than two months of age, leaving the decision to parents.
• Kennedy and his team argue that hepatitis B is mainly sexually transmitted and that vaccination at birth is unnecessary for babies of uninfected mothers, despite the virus also spreading through asymptomatic carriers and household contact.
• A federal judge temporarily blocked these new recommendations, reinstating universal newborn vaccination as per CDC guidelines, though ongoing litigation may still change the vaccination schedule.