CDC vaccine advisory committee votes to remove Hepatitis B vaccine recommendation at birth: What has changed, and what remains the same

In a big change to the infant vaccination process, the CDC’s (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) vaccine advisory committee has voted to move away from a “one‑size‑fits‑all” hepatitis B shot at birth, and instead, let parents and clinicians decide on a case‑by‑case basis for babies, whose mothers test negative for hepatitis B. This however, does not remove hepatitis B vaccination altogether for infants, but it changes the timing, the way decisions are made, and possibly how other early‑life vaccines are viewed. What exactly just changed For more than 30 years, the United States has recommended that every newborn get a first dose of hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth, no matter what the mother’s hepatitis B status is. This universal “birth dose” has helped driv