RFK Jr. Vaccine Panel Postpones Vote on Hepatitis B Vaccine for Babies

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s hand-picked immunization committee on Thursday postponed key votes on hepatitis B vaccines for babies until Friday, saying it would give members more time to consider the measure’s proposed language.

A member of the committee, Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, made a motion to postpone the vote after the group was confused about the wording.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends that every baby be vaccinated against hepatitis B within 24 hours of birth.

It’s unclear whether the panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), could significantly delay or eliminate a so-called birth dose of the vaccine for babies whose mothers test negative for the virus. The group tabled a vote on the vaccine in September because some members initially called for a more intensive discussion.

But any change could have far-reaching consequences: Some health experts say reducing vaccination of newborns against the virus could lead to a rise in chronic infections among children.

Hepatitis B, which can be passed from mother to child during birth, can cause liver disease and early death. There is no cure.

“We have a vaccine that is highly effective at preventing an incurable disease. We should take full advantage of that,” Neil Maniar, a professor of public health at Northeastern University, told CNBC.

The birth dose recommendation was introduced in 1991 and is said to have led to a 99% reduction in infections in children since then. Maniar called it a “remarkable success story that we risk undoing” if the committee changes the recommendation.

The panel’s decisions are not legally binding because it is up to states to mandate vaccinations. However, ACIP’s recommendations have significant implications for whether private insurance plans and government assistance programs cover vaccinations free of charge for eligible children.

The panel’s upcoming two-day meeting in Atlanta comes after Kennedy gutted the committee earlier this year and appointed 12 new members, including some well-known vaccine critics. During the September meeting, some advisers questioned whether the shot’s benefits outweighed the potential safety risks.

But the vaccination is “an incredibly safe vaccine with minimal risks,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, during a media briefing Tuesday.

“I have not once seen a fever associated with the hepatitis B vaccine,” said O’Leary, who practiced general pediatrician for eight years and worked in a neonatal unit.

The AAP, which publishes its own vaccination plan, continues to recommend the universal birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine because “it saves lives,” he added.

A new review of more than 400 studies spanning four decades published Tuesday also found no evidence that delaying the birth dose of the universal hepatitis B vaccine improves safety or effectiveness. The review also found that the birth dose did not cause any short- or long-term serious adverse events or deaths.

A 2024 CDC study showed that the current vaccination schedule helped prevent more than 6 million hepatitis B infections and nearly 1 million hepatitis B-related hospitalizations.

Merck and GSK make the hepatitis B vaccines, which are used from birth. None of the shots are a significant revenue driver for the companies.

But John Grabenstein, a former Merck vaccine executive and military pharmacist, said changing the recommendation could lead to disruptions in the companies’ vaccine supplies.

“They have built up their reserves and they are building up their thorough calculations so that they can meet the status quo,” Grabenstein, who has no other financial ties to Merck, told CNBC. “If you disrupt the status quo without warning, there would be too much of some things and not enough of others, which could easily lead to local shortages.”

Still, he said his first concern from a public health perspective is that fewer children will be vaccinated on time, making them more vulnerable to infection.

Merck also rejected changing the recommendation at the committee’s meeting in September.

“Re-evaluation of hepatitis B vaccination for newborns according to the established schedule poses a major risk to the health of children and the public, which could lead to a resurgence of preventable infectious diseases,” said Dr. Richard Haupt, head of the global medical and scientific division for vaccines and infectious diseases at Merck, at the time.