CDC’s vaccine panel could reshape newborn hepatitis guidance

Doctors and public health professionals are eyeing a key CDC meeting this week

one that can shape vaccine recommendations for the first time in decades

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, made up of 12 medical advisors

will decide whether newborns should receive hepatitis B vaccines at birth. This vote could reverse a policy that has been in place since 1991

The two-day meeting Thursday and Friday will also take a look at measles, chickenpox, and COVID-19 vaccines

Four Democratic-led states and their governors, California, Oregon, Hawaii, and Washington, have already released their own vaccine guidance, accusing the Trump administration of politicizing public health

The West Coast Health Alliance is encouraging people to stay up to date on COVID-19, flu, and RSV vaccines

Infants, older adults, pregnant women, and those in close settings are particularly at risk

HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon criticized the state recommendation, saying past policies during the COVID-19 era undermined trust in public health agencies

He stressed that future policy will be driven by science and evidence, not politics

How did Dr. Menares go from being a public health expert with unimpeachable scientific credentials

who had the full confidence of Secretary Kennedy into being a liar and untrustworthy in less than a month Alstead CDC Director Susan Minaris testified Wednesday that she was pressured to approve changes to childhood vaccine recommendations without scientific evidence

I responded that I could not pre-approve recommendations without reviewing the evidence, and I had no basis to fire scientific experts

He told me he had already spoken with the White House several times about having me removed

Senator Bill Cassidy, a hepatologist and chair of the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee

said the firing could deepen mistrust in the CDC. He stressed that clear guidance is critical for protecting children and adults alike

Cassidy said the hepatitis B vaccine is credited with saving lives. Before 1991, as many as 20,000 babies, babies, were infected with hepatitis B in the United States of America

And that changed when the hepatitis B vaccine was approved for newborns. Cassidy says today fewer than 20 babies a year contract the disease

He emphasized the vaccine is optional, with mothers able to accept or decline

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For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kaylee Carey