Medical groups support newborn Hepatitis B immunization despite new federal recommendation

The West Coast Health Alliance urges that hepatitis B vaccinations continue to be routinely offered to all newborns, with the first dose given within 24 hours of birth for babies weighing at least 4 pounds, 7 ounces, followed by completion of the whole vaccine series.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Health put out a news release about the recommendation, which it states “aligns with trusted national medical organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.”

The recommendation also is in response to the recent vote by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel selected by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to end the universal recommendation for newborn hepatitis B vaccination.

The West Coast Health Alliance and other medical experts argue that there is no credible evidence supporting the change and warn that delaying the birth dose could increase the risk of infection and decrease completion rates of the vaccine series, leaving infants vulnerable to liver disease and liver cancer.

Hepatitis B is a highly contagious virus that attacks the liver and can lead to chronic disease, liver cancer, liver failure and death. Before universal infant vaccination began in the United States in 1991, thousands of children were infected annually, many at birth.

Infants are especially vulnerable: up to 90 percent of babies infected at birth develop chronic hepatitis B, and 25 percent of those infected die prematurely from related complications.

Health experts say the birth dose acts as a critical safety net, protecting newborns from infection transmitted by household or other contacts.

Studies and decades of global experience show the vaccine is safe regardless of timing, and delaying the first dose provides no added safety benefit. Completing the series offers the strongest protection, while unproven recommendations to use blood tests to guide vaccination could lead to unnecessary procedures, higher costs, and reduced protection against infection.