Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
Ohio public health leaders raised concerns about a federal advisory panel’s vote last week to scale back the longstanding recommendation that all newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth (Source: Ohio Health Officials: New Hepatitis B Vaccine Guidance Could Put Newborns At Risk, Ideastream Public Media, December 5, 2025).
The officials said the move could reverse decades of progress against a potentially deadly virus.
Bruce Vanderhoff, MD, MBA, FAAFP, director of the Ohio Department of Health, said during a news conference at the Cleveland Clinic that the change sends a troubling message about a vaccine that has dramatically reduced dangerous infections in infants.
“Hepatitis B remains a very, very serious condition. It’s a serious illness that causes very serious problems in a person’s life if they’re infected,” Dr. Vanderhoff said. “The vaccine that we have is very safe, it’s very effective, and it has clearly reduced the…number of infants who are acquiring hepatitis B in infancy.”
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to recommend vaccination at birth only for infants whose mothers test positive for hepatitis B. ACIP members argued that infants born to hepatitis‑negative mothers face a low risk of infection, and said that other developed countries with low rates of hepatitis B do not use a universal birth‑dose policy.
If approved by the CDC’s acting director, the new recommendation will be that non-infected parents would be told to consult their physicians.
National medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, strongly opposed the federal committee’s vote, saying it could leave vulnerable infants unprotected, especially in situations where a mother’s infection status is unknown or inaccurate.