12/05/2025
The CDC’s vaccine committee is meeting again today.
At yesterday's meeting, despite some predictions, they did not discuss aluminum adjuvants, but rather the newborn dose of the Hepatitis B vaccine. After a contentious discussion, they voted to postpone further discussion until today.
They had planned to vote on it at their last meeting in the fall, but realized that they had no idea what they were doing, so they postponed it. All signs seem to be pointing to the committee recommend against the newborn dose of Hepatitis B, despite the evidence.
Again, breaking with tradition, they did not reveal the names of yesterday's speakers until yesterday morning. Instead of the experts usually tasked with presenting the available evidence, they instead invited a climate researcher who happens to be on the board of an antivaccine organization(Huh, what are the odds?). They also heard from an antivaccine activist, who now works for the CDC, who presented data from a discredited "researcher" and antivaccine activist (who now also works for the CDC (it just gets worse).
Hepatitis B causes liver infections, often chronic or fatal in infants, as well as liver cancers. It is usually given as a 3 dose series in infancy (starting on the first or second day of life). Families often ask us why newborns need to get this vaccine if Mom is known to be Hepatitis B negative (all women should be tested in pregnancy).
When the Hepatitis B vaccine was first approved in the early 1980s, initial recommendations did target groups at high risk of exposure to blood and body fluids, such as IV drug users, healthcare workers, men who have s*x with men, and infants whose mothers had Hepatitis B. It became apparent, though, that 30-40% of infants who got infected with Hep B did not have an identifiable risk factor. Sometimes, mothers weren’t tested, or their results weren’t known at the hospital. When mothers are infected with Hepatitis B, infants must start their vaccination series within 12 hours of birth to prevent the baby from becoming infected. There were also reports of Hep B transmission in the home. The virus can persist on surfaces for days and can be spread by sharing razors and toothbrushes, or blood from a small injury. This is very different from other bloodborne diseases, like HIV, which only persists for a few hours out of the body.
As a result, we began universal Hep B vaccination for newborns, which has nearly eliminated the disease in children. This vaccine, like all others, is safe and not associated with any developmental issues, including autism. By recommending against the initial dose, there will undoubtedly be a number of infants who acquire Hepatitis B and die.
Most insurance companies in the US have promised to provide coverage for all vaccines that were recommended by the CDC as of September 1st of this year until the end of 2026. We don’t know what happens after that. Some states have mandated that insurers continue to cover these vaccines; NJ has not yet done this.
Also on the agenda today, is a presentation from a lawyer who used to work with RFK, Jr trying to discredit vaccines.
The advisory committee delayed the vote until Friday morning after heated disagreements. It was the third time the vote has been postponed.
