The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends which vaccines Americans get and when to get them. Members handpicked by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a known vaccine skeptic, voted to delay the hepatitis B vaccine for children.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still needs to sign off on the change.
Heidi He Does It lives in Red Lodge and is about four and a half months pregnant. She’s already talked to her doctor.
“I’m able to advocate for myself and request that that vaccine be given at birth, which is absolutely our plan,” He Does It says.
The change to the hepatitis B shot recommendation doesn’t remove parents’ ability to get their kids the vaccine at birth, but they will need to talk to their doctor ahead of time.
Health officials for years recommended that newborns get the shot to prevent transmission at birth. That’s because not every mother is able to get tested for the disease, which can cause various liver conditions. Infants can also contract the virus from other adults.
Billings Clinic pediatrician Patricia Notario says there’s no data to support delaying the shot.
“Because we had already done that, and it wasn’t working. There were still babies and children getting chronic hepatitis B.”
Notario says about a quarter of those children develop liver cancer later in life. She says that’s why parents should talk to their provider about getting their children vaccinated at birth.
Notario says parents can find credible information about vaccines from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
