{"id":106106,"date":"2025-12-05T14:26:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T22:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/?p=106106"},"modified":"2025-12-05T14:26:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T22:26:47","slug":"cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/","title":{"rendered":"CDC vaccine committee overturns hepatitis B recommendation for newborns"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) committee voted to eliminate a recommendation that all newborn babies receive a vaccine against hepatitis B, ending a policy that has been in place since 1991 to protect Americans against an incurable liver disease<\/a>\u00a0that can lead to cirrhosis, cancer and liver failure.<\/p>\n

The current\u00a0three-dose series<\/a>\u00a0for hepatitis B includes one vaccine administered to infants within 24 hours of birth, and subsequent booster shots given one month and six months after the initial dose. There was a 99% drop in serious infections among children between 1990 and 2019, which is\u00a0attributed<\/a>\u00a0to the universal vaccination policy.<\/p>\n

The agency will leave in place a recommendation that babies born to mothers who test positive for hepatitis B receive a vaccine at birth. However, the new guidelines leave the decision in all other cases to \u201cindividual-based decision-making.\u201d They also suggest that parents delay the first dose of the vaccine for at least two months after birth.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s decision comes after an 8-3 vote from a key CDC advisory committee, known as the\u00a0Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices<\/a>, which is charged with setting national guidelines around which people should be vaccinated against a wide range of preventable diseases and when those vaccines should be administered. The recommendations play a key role in determining which vaccines insurance companies are willing to cover and how accessible those immunizations are to the public.<\/p>\n

Retsef Levi, an ACIP member and\u00a0professor<\/a>\u00a0of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, called the updated recommendation a \u201cvery positive change in policy.\u201d arguing that blanket vaccine recommendations force newborns to serve as \u201ca safety net for adults\u2019 mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Dr. Cody Meissner, another member of the committee who also serves as a\u00a0professor<\/a>\u00a0of pediatrics and medicine at Dartmouth College, argued that there was no scientific evidence to support the changes implemented by the panel.<\/p>\n

Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices member Robert Malone, a doctor and biochemist who once said he views the label of anti-vaxxer as \u201chigh praise,\u201d was recently appointed to vice chair of the committee. Maya Homan\/Georgia Recorder<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThoughtful inquiry is always commendable,\u201d he told the committee. \u201cBut that inquiry should not be confused with baseless skepticism, which is what I think we\u2019re encountering here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The updated recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine mirrors COVID-19 vaccine guidelines passed by the same panel\u00a0in September<\/a>, which places new emphasis on the risks of immunizations, though the CDC\u2019s\u00a0own data<\/a>\u00a0shows that the vaccines are safe and effective for most people. As with the new COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, the updated hepatitis B guidelines will not take effect until being officially signed off by the CDC director.<\/p>\n

A second vote, which passed 6-4, encourages parents to discuss using\u00a0serology testing<\/a>, a type of blood test that measures antibodies to gauge how well a patient\u2019s immune system has responded to a disease, before allowing their children to receive additional doses of the hepatitis B vaccine.<\/p>\n

The changed recommendations will not prevent doctors from administering hepatitis B vaccines to newborns, but may impact which insurance companies are willing to pay for the immunizations. Children enrolled in Medicaid or the\u00a0Vaccines for Children program<\/a>, which provides free immunizations to children who are uninsured or underinsured, will continue to be eligible for hepatitis B vaccines at birth under the new recommendations, according to program liaisons.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Support non-profit journalism<\/em><\/h4>\n

This story was originally produced by\u00a0Georgia Recorder<\/a>, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Washington State Standard, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Read\u00a0this article<\/a> and others\u00a0online at Washington State Standard.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Decades-old recommendation led to a 99% drop in serious infections among children <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1182,"featured_media":106107,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[351,1420,53,112,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baby","category-baby-2","category-health","category-news","category-parenting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCDC Updates Hepatitis B Vaccine Guidance for Newborns<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The CDC has updated its hepatitis B vaccine guidance, ending the universal birth-dose recommendation. What Seattle-area parents need to know.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CDC vaccine committee overturns hepatitis B recommendation for newborns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The CDC has updated its hepatitis B vaccine guidance, ending the universal birth-dose recommendation. What Seattle-area parents need to know.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Seattle's Child\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SeattlesChild\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-05T22:26:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_1921-1024x683-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cheryl Murfin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SeaChildMag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SeaChildMag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cheryl Murfin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cheryl Murfin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/person\/83518fe1dabcc0eb975cb238f84fcee8\"},\"headline\":\"CDC vaccine committee overturns hepatitis B recommendation for newborns\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-05T22:26:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/\"},\"wordCount\":620,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_1921-1024x683-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Baby\",\"Baby & Pregnancy\",\"Health\",\"News\",\"Parenting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/\",\"name\":\"CDC Updates Hepatitis B Vaccine Guidance for Newborns\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_1921-1024x683-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-05T22:26:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"The CDC has updated its hepatitis B vaccine guidance, ending the universal birth-dose recommendation. What Seattle-area parents need to know.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_1921-1024x683-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_1921-1024x683-1.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"Members of a key CDC advisory committee, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, met in Atlanta on Dec. 4. (Image: Maya Homan\/Georgia Recorder)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"CDC vaccine committee overturns hepatitis B recommendation for newborns\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/\",\"name\":\"Seattle's Child\",\"description\":\"Activities and Resources for Parents and Kids in greater Seattle\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Seattle's Child\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/seattles-logo-1.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/seattles-logo-1.svg\",\"width\":455,\"height\":64,\"caption\":\"Seattle's Child\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SeattlesChild\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/SeaChildMag\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/seattleschildmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/seattleschild\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/person\/83518fe1dabcc0eb975cb238f84fcee8\",\"name\":\"Cheryl Murfin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_1049-96x96.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_1049-96x96.jpeg\",\"caption\":\"Cheryl Murfin\"},\"description\":\"Cheryl Murfin, M.Ed\/IAE is managing editor of Seattle's Child magazine. She's been a working journalist for nearly 40 years, is an certified AWA writing workshop facilitator, arts-integrated writing retreat leader. Find her at Compasswriters.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/author\/cheryl-murfin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"CDC Updates Hepatitis B Vaccine Guidance for Newborns","description":"The CDC has updated its hepatitis B vaccine guidance, ending the universal birth-dose recommendation. What Seattle-area parents need to know.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"CDC vaccine committee overturns hepatitis B recommendation for newborns","og_description":"The CDC has updated its hepatitis B vaccine guidance, ending the universal birth-dose recommendation. What Seattle-area parents need to know.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/","og_site_name":"Seattle's Child","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SeattlesChild\/","article_published_time":"2025-12-05T22:26:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_1921-1024x683-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cheryl Murfin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@SeaChildMag","twitter_site":"@SeaChildMag","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cheryl Murfin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/"},"author":{"name":"Cheryl Murfin","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/person\/83518fe1dabcc0eb975cb238f84fcee8"},"headline":"CDC vaccine committee overturns hepatitis B recommendation for newborns","datePublished":"2025-12-05T22:26:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/"},"wordCount":620,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_1921-1024x683-1.jpg","articleSection":["Baby","Baby & Pregnancy","Health","News","Parenting"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/","url":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/","name":"CDC Updates Hepatitis B Vaccine Guidance for Newborns","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_1921-1024x683-1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-05T22:26:47+00:00","description":"The CDC has updated its hepatitis B vaccine guidance, ending the universal birth-dose recommendation. What Seattle-area parents need to know.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_1921-1024x683-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_1921-1024x683-1.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"caption":"Members of a key CDC advisory committee, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, met in Atlanta on Dec. 4. (Image: Maya Homan\/Georgia Recorder)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/cdc-hepatitis-b-vaccine-guidance-newborns\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"CDC vaccine committee overturns hepatitis B recommendation for newborns"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/","name":"Seattle's Child","description":"Activities and Resources for Parents and Kids in greater Seattle","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#organization","name":"Seattle's Child","url":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/seattles-logo-1.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/seattles-logo-1.svg","width":455,"height":64,"caption":"Seattle's Child"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SeattlesChild\/","https:\/\/x.com\/SeaChildMag","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/seattleschildmag\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/seattleschild\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/person\/83518fe1dabcc0eb975cb238f84fcee8","name":"Cheryl Murfin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_1049-96x96.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/images.seattleschild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_1049-96x96.jpeg","caption":"Cheryl Murfin"},"description":"Cheryl Murfin, M.Ed\/IAE is managing editor of Seattle's Child magazine. She's been a working journalist for nearly 40 years, is an certified AWA writing workshop facilitator, arts-integrated writing retreat leader. Find her at Compasswriters.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/author\/cheryl-murfin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106106"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106110,"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106106\/revisions\/106110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seattleschild.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}