Federal Panel’s Vote to End Universal Hepatitis B Vaccination for Newborns Raises Alarms

In a move that has stunned public health experts and conservative Americans alike, a federal vaccine advisory panel voted 8-to-3 to suspend the longstanding recommendation for universal hepatitis B vaccination of newborns. Established in 1991, this policy has been a critical pillar in protecting American children from a highly infectious virus that can cause chronic liver disease and thousands of deaths.Why Is Washington Reversing Decades of Progress?The Committee on Immunization Practices—recently overhauled by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose tenure is marked by antivaccine rhetoric and unproven claims—chose to allow only mothers who test negative for hepatitis B to...