UPDATE 6-Kennedy advisers delay vote to drop hepatitis B vaccine recommendation, a major policy shift

Many of the members of the committee, which was entirely reconstituted by Kennedy after he fired the previous 17 independent experts in June, are aligned with the health secretary's anti-vaccine views. On Thursday, the CDC posted the voting language for the advisory committee, proposing that only infants born to mothers who test positive for hepatitis B be recommended to get the vaccine.

Vaccine advisers to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday delayed a vote until Friday that could scrap the U.S. recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine for all children, a move that would be the health secretary's most consequential vaccine policy change yet. Since 1991, the U.S. has had a universal hepatitis B vaccine recommendation for a dose just after birth, which studies show have cut infection rates by 95%. The first dose is followed by two more, at 1 to 2 months and 6 to 18 months.

In an unusual meeting, the committee of advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention heard presentations that questioned the birth dose policy as unsafe. Some participants, however, said skipping it would result in children developing life-long infections that can lead to death. One committee member said the language they are to vote on had changed three times. Many of the members of the committee, which was entirely reconstituted by Kennedy after he fired the previous 17 independent experts in June, are aligned with the health secretary's anti-vaccine views.

On Thursday, the CDC posted the voting language for the advisory committee, proposing that only infants born to mothers who test positive for hepatitis B be recommended to get the vaccine. For most other children, parents, in consultation with healthcare providers, should decide if and when to begin the series of shots, the proposal said. It advised parents who elect to delay vaccination to offer the first dose no sooner than two months of age.

The committee also plans to vote on testing children for hepatitis B antibodies before deciding to give subsequent shots. During the meeting, climate scientist and CDC consultant Cynthia Nevison said the risk of hepatitis B transmission to healthy children has been overstated. Businessman and CDC staffer Mark Blaxill, who has been a leader of anti-vaccine group SafeMinds, presented a review of the vaccine's safety, concluding that there is limited evidence of its safety.

The World Health Organization recommends all babies receive the hepatitis B vaccine as soon as possible after birth, followed by two or three doses of the shot at least four weeks apart. "The way I look at a neonatal birth dose is that it is a safety net," committee member Cody Meissner said, adding that the evidence for lifelong immunity to hepatitis B after completing the series is very strong.

EXPERTS QUESTION RISK EMPHASIS Several infectious disease experts raised concerns that the panel was emphasizing the potential risk of the vaccine, while some CDC employees challenged the lack of evidence for the move and questionable the quality of studies presented.

Some asked why the committee was raising the issue for a vaccine with a long safety and efficacy history in infants that prevents a virus that can lead to serious liver disease. Vaccine makers Sanofi, Merck and GSK defended their products as safe. Shares of all three closed down on Thursday.

"At present, there is no credible evidence indicating a safety risk with today's immunizations," said Sanofi North American vaccine executive Ayman Chit. All three doses of the vaccine are needed to build long-lasting immunity and protection after antibody levels decline, said Demetre Daskalakis, former director at the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

The universal hepatitis B birth dose recommendation was implemented in 1991 after targeted risk-based vaccination strategies failed to prevent perinatal and early childhood hepatitis B transmission. At the time, nearly 20,000 babies and children were infected annually in the U.S., and most infections went undiagnosed until later in life, frequently after liver cancer or significant liver damage had developed. "Ending universal hepatitis B vaccination will rob families of a chance to shield babies from cancer," said former committee member Noel Brewer.

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a Republican and a physician who was instrumental in Kennedy's confirmation to the top health post, said on X that the committee is "totally discredited. They are not protecting children." FAR-REACHING CONSEQUENCES

Kennedy, who founded the anti-vaccine Children's Health Defense and had been part of lawsuits against drugmakers before taking office in January, has already overseen several controversial policy changes. On his watch, broad recommendations for Americans to get COVID-19 shots were dropped, in addition to recommending a split of the measles-mumps-rubella shot from varicella for those under age 4, adding new requirements for vaccine trials and cutting funds for mRNA-based vaccines.

The committee advises the CDC on what recommendations to adopt. The recommendations affect health insurance coverage in the United States and play a key role in assisting physicians in choosing appropriate vaccines for patients. Recommendations for shared clinical decision-making, as the committee proposed, can typically be covered by health insurers, but such policies tend to reduce vaccination compared with a recommendation for the inoculations, experts have said.

Kennedy's revamped vaccine advisory panel has broken long-standing norms aimed at ensuring scientific rigor and consensus, allowing non-scientists to present on key issues. Blaxill, a businessman and parent of an autistic daughter who has been tapped as an adviser to the CDC, presented on the hepatitis B shots. He has previously argued that "overvaccination" causes autism, contrary to established science.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)