ACIP votes to end universal hepatitis B vaccine at birth
Why it matters
The birth-dose recommendation has been a fixture of the U.S. schedule since 1991. Rolling it back is the most concrete change yet to the schedule the reform movement has spent decades questioning, and it happened through the reconstituted ACIP.
In December 2025, the reconstituted Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 8–3 to end the universal recommendation that all newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.
Under the new guidance, the birth dose is recommended for infants born to mothers who are hepatitis B positive or whose status is unknown. For infants born to mothers who test negative, the panel now recommends “individual-based decision making” between parents and providers, and suggests delaying the first dose until at least two months of age if the birth dose is declined.
Supporters of the change describe it as restoring informed parental choice for a low-risk population; public-health organizations warned it could reduce coverage and leave some infants unprotected. It was the first structural change to the childhood schedule under the new HHS leadership.
Update: A March 16, 2026 U.S. District Court order stayed ACIP votes taken after June 11, 2025, including this one. The universal birth-dose recommendation remains in effect pending appeal.
Source
ACIP / CDCRelated coverage
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