RFK Jr.s Vaccine Panel Eyes Scrapping Newborn Hep B Shots Over Alleged Allergy Risks

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s newly appointed vaccine advisers are set to vote this week on eliminating the routine hepatitis B shot for all newborns.

The move could upend decades of public health guidance aimed at curbing a virus that spreads easily from mothers to infants during birth.

Panel members also plan to investigate claims that childhood vaccines fuel surges in allergies and autoimmune conditions affecting millions of kids.

Experts warn such changes might reverse hard-won progress against hepatitis B, which infects over 800 thousand Americans yearly and leads to liver cancer in chronic cases.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices shapes CDC recommendations that doctors follow nationwide for safe vaccination schedules.

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, picked these advisers after taking office earlier this year to restore what he calls public trust in immunization programs.

Their December meeting marks the panels first major review under his influence, focusing on birth doses and broader schedule tweaks.

Hepatitis B shots at birth have slashed infant infections by 90 percent since the 1990s, protecting vulnerable families where testing misses maternal carriers.

Allergies and autoimmune disorders have indeed risen sharply, with food allergies now hitting one in 13 children and conditions like type 1 diabetes doubling in recent decades.

Kennedy has long argued vaccine ingredients like aluminum adjuvants trigger these trends, though major studies show no causal connection.

The panels probe stems from his push for fresh looks at old data, amid concerns that rushed schedules overload young immune systems.

It is true that the advisers plan a Thursday vote to scrap the universal hepatitis B birth dose recommendation, as the committee chair confirmed ahead of the session.

That said, pediatric groups stress the shots unmatched safety record, with rare side effects and proven prevention of thousands of deaths annually.

Claims tying vaccines to allergy or autoimmune rises lack backing from large-scale research, including recent Danish analyses of over a million kids showing zero links.

Kennedy appointees frame the review as science-driven caution, but critics see it as injecting doubt into settled protections without new evidence.

Media reporting for this story: 48% Left | 12% Right | 35% Center | 5% Unrated

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