"A vaccine advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was poised to vote Friday on whether to scrap the recommended birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, a move that would be the body's most controversial decision since it was overhauled by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr in June. The hep B shot has long been a top target for vaccine opponents."
"Although a change in the current recommendation would not bar newborns from receiving the vaccine, Medicaid and other public insurance programs would no longer be required to cover it, putting a birth dose out of reach for millions of poor families and complicating access for many others. Unlike most vaccine-preventable diseases, such as whooping cough and chickenpox, hepatitis B is typically asymptomatic, often spreading silently until midlife, when 1 in 4 infected people develop liver cancer or cirrhosis."
"Opponents of the current vaccine guidance - among them, Kennedy, surgeon general nominee Casey Means and President Trump - characterize the virus as the result of high-risk "adult" behavior, including sex and IV drug use. "It's one of the cancers with the highest mortality in the U.S.," said Dr. Su Wang, medical director of Viral Hepatitis Programs and the Center for Asian Health at the Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey. "The life expectancy we give people is six months on average.""
A CDC vaccine advisory panel considered eliminating the recommended hepatitis B birth dose after a Department of Health and Human Services overhaul. The hep B shot has been targeted by vaccine opponents, and a planned September vote was postponed after fierce disagreements and shouting among committee members. Ending the recommendation would not ban newborn vaccinations but would remove Medicaid and other public insurance coverage, placing a birth dose out of reach for many low-income families. Hepatitis B is frequently asymptomatic and can spread silently until midlife, when roughly one in four infected people develop liver cancer or cirrhosis, with very high mortality.
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