Vaccine advisory panel votes to end universal newborn hep B shot recommendation

Barbara Rodriguez

Interim Health and Caregiving Reporter

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A federal advisory panel with power over vaccine policy has voted to stop recommending a universal newborn shot to prevent the hepatitis B virus, which causes liver disease — a major shakeup to the childhood vaccine schedule under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, voted Friday to remove its longstanding recommendation that all infants be given a shot of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth.

The panel instead agreed to only recommend a newborn dose to infants of a birthing parent who has tested positive for hep B or whose infection status is unknown — a targeted approach on a high-risk group that was