\n<\/p>\n
December 4, 2025<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n CDC Vaccine Panel in Disarray over Hepatitis B Vote<\/p>\n Members of the CDC\u2019s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices seemed confused about a proposed recommendation for the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine<\/p>\n By Lauren J. Young edited by Claire Cameron<\/span><\/p>\n Robert Malone, a committee member and vice chair of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, during a meeting of the committee on December 4, 2025. The influential panel of U.S. vaccine advisers is expected to reverse a long-standing recommendation that babies receive a hepatitis B shot hours after birth, a change public health experts say is all but certain to endanger children.<\/p>\n Megan Varner\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n An influential vaccine panel that was due to vote on whether to change recommendations for hepatitis B vaccines for infants has postponed its vote after the day\u2019s deliberations fell into confusion and disarray on Thursday.<\/p>\n The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) was scheduled to rule on recommendations for the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns, but several panel members seemed confused as to what they were voting on. The ballot is now set to take place on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was, again, general disarray and confusion and a clear lack of expertise from both the presenters and the ACIP members,\u201d says Helen Chu, an immunologist and physician at the University of Washington. ACIP initially discussed hepatitis B vaccines at a September meeting, but the members tabled the vote on whether to change the recommendations.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n Under current recommendations, all babies receive the first of three doses of the hepatitis B vaccine hours after they are born. The policy, instituted in 1991, has dramatically reduced childhood cases of the disease in the U.S.<\/p>\n ACIP appears to be considering three possible votes, including to make the birth dose optional for infants born to pregnant people who tested negative for the hepatitis B virus. That proposal, whereby parents would be required to discuss vaccination for newborns with a health care provider, prompted significant confusion among members.<\/p>\n \u201cI apologize that it\u2019s taking me a while to thoroughly read this,\u201d said ACIP member Joseph R. Hibbeln, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, at the meeting, adding that he had had little notice to consider the proposals. \u201cThis is the third version of the questions that we at most of the ACIP have received in 72 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m having a hard time, too,\u201d said ACIP member Cody Meissner, a pediatric infectious disease epidemiologist.<\/p>\n The presentation of the voting information at Thursday\u2019s meeting deviated from past ACIP meetings, says Chu, a former ACIP member, who was dismissed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a noted vaccine skeptic, in June.<\/p>\n The language for votes is \u201cusually decided well ahead of time in the working groups and is shared ahead of time, which allows for both public comment and for review by the ACIP members so that they can come prepared to vote,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n During today\u2019s meeting, \u201cthere have been multiple arguments between ACIP members. It\u2019s frankly embarrassing,\u201d says Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan. \u201cAt the last ACIP meeting, they were unable to develop [hepatitis B] recommendations they could vote on. It seems this problem had not been solved.\u201d<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s Note (12\/4\/25): This story was updated to include further clarification on the proposed votes.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" December 4, 2025 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm CDC Vaccine Panel in Disarray over Hepatitis B Vote Members of the CDC\u2019s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices seemed confused about a proposed recommendation for the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine By Lauren J. Young edited by Claire Cameron Robert Malone, a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[2132,18872,6192,6231,2133,139],"class_list":{"0":"post-35994","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-cdc","9":"tag-disarray","10":"tag-hepatitis","11":"tag-panel","12":"tag-vaccine","13":"tag-vote"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/35995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s Time to Stand Up for Science<\/h2>\n