Under new federal recommendations, it is now up to parents to decide to give their infants the hepatitis B vaccine when their mothers have tested negative for the virus.
Pediatrician and podcast host Dr. Mona Amin, said on a webinar organized by SciLine that parents still have access to the shot. But she offers the example of the COVID-19 vaccine, which has not seen a huge uptake in children getting it. That has led to access issues, and she’s concerned the hep B shot will follow the same pattern.
“If we start seeing low uptake of the hep B vaccines in hospitals they may stop carrying the hep B vaccine in hospitals and say, ‘hey, go to your pediatrician’s office and get it there’,” said Amin.
Amin said families with lower socioeconomic status already fall through the cracks in the health care system because of a lack of access to primary care and they may not get back to a doctor after a hospital birth to get the vaccines months later.
“The population that’s going to be most affected is the population that public health policies tend to serve the most,” Amin said.
Earlier this year, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 people on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices citing conflicts of interest with the pharmaceutical industry.
Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Dr. Paul Offit said the medical field has looked to the committee for guidance. But recent decisions, including the one on the hep B vaccine, represent a big step backwards for children and public health.
“In the case of childhood vaccines, the American Academy of Pediatrics has stood up and have their immunization schedule. And they've worked with insurance companies to make sure that insurers will cover those based on best medical practices, based on best information. So, we're in a flux period,” said Offit.
The New Mexico Department of Health has announced it still recommends newborns continue to receive the hep B shot and they will still be covered by most insurance including Medicaid.
Amin said this move by the CDC is fostering more skepticism and vaccine hesitancy around the hep B vaccine, even though the shot remains safe for infants at birth as it is two months later.
