After a contentious meeting, vaccine advisers for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) voted on Thursday to delay a vote on restricting hepatitis B vaccination for infants.
The meeting of the advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP) turned confrontational at times before one member introduced a motion to delay the vote, which passed by six to three, to give advisers time to examine the wording before taking a vote.
In the unprecedented meeting, the vaccine advisers debated restricting access to the hepatitis B vaccine for infants – a significant step toward limiting safe and effective shots given for decades.
No new evidence on harms from the vaccine, which has been given to 1.4 billion people for more than three decades with a stellar safety record, was presented at the meeting. The shot is currently available at birth for all infants.
Two members demanded evidence of any harm from the vaccine while pointing to its benefits, while the vice-chair running the meeting at times interrupted their comments. Several of the advisers, who were all hand-picked by Donald Trump’s controversial health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, are longtime anti-vaccine advocates.
The aborted vote on the hepatitis B shot, which is an extremely safe and very effective vaccine, follows previous meetings where advisers recommended restricting access to Covid vaccines and also measles, mumps and rubella and chickenpox vaccines – moves that made it more difficult for families and providers to understand their options.
Kennedy, a prominent anti-vaccine activist, has long pushed for delaying the shot. Experts say any change to the current hepatitis B vaccination recommended schedule could have significant and far-reaching consequences for childhood health in the US.
The leadership of the ACIP was shaken up earlier this week, with the previous chair, Martin Kulldorff, moving to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The new chair is Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist who has advocated against Covid vaccines and promoted the use of ivermectin, an ineffective medication against parasites.
According to a study published in 2023 in the official journal of the US surgeon general, there was a 99% decline in reported cases of acute hepatitis B among children, adolescents and young adults between 1990 and 2019 as a direct result of infant immunization.
In September, the panel voted to change US vaccine policy and start recommending that children receive multiple vaccines to protect against measles, mumps and rubella and chickenpox, instead of a single vaccine that can protect against all four diseases. The following day, the panel voted against recommending that people obtain a prescription for a Covid-19 vaccine.
The advisory panel can only make recommendations to the head of the CDC, acting director Jim O’Neill. The previous director, Susan Monarez, was ousted by the Trump administration in August after the White House claimed she was “not aligned” with the president’s agenda.
Childhood immunization rates continue to fall across the United States, amid a rise in vaccine hesitancy exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. In 2025, the US has been among dozens of countries that reported large measles outbreaks.
