The Maryland State Health Department is encouraging the parents of newborns to give them the hepatitis B vaccine, despite a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel recommending otherwise.

The recommendation from the CDC is instead of having the first dose be administered within 24 hours of birth, it should be delayed until a child is 2 months old for children born to mothers who test negative for the virus.

“Delaying the vaccine or not completing the full series has no known safety benefits for children,” Maryland Department of Health Secretary Meena Seshemani said.

Seshemani added that hepatitis B rates have decreased with the vaccines and that it prevents long-term liver infections, cirrhosis and cancer.

“Hepatitis B rates decreased by 99% with initiation of the vaccinations

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