The Trump administration is continuing its push to revise federal guidelines to delay the hepatitis B vaccine newborn dose for most children. This comes despite a failed attempt to do so at the most recent meeting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Both President Donald Trump and some newly appointed ACIP members have mischaracterized how the liver disease spreads, according to medical experts, including those working at the CDC. The ACIP panel’s recommendations can determine insurance coverage for immunizations.
At a White House press conference on Sept. 22, Trump, in advocating for delaying the newborn vaccine dose, falsely claimed that hepatitis B is solely a sexually transmitted infection.
“Hepatitis B is sexually transmitted. There’s no reason to give a baby that’s almost just born hepatitis B. So I would say wait till the baby is 12 years old and formed and take hepatitis B,” Trump said.
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Hepatitis B is a highly infectious virus that attacks the liver and is transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids, including blood. It can also be passed from mother to baby.
A reporter asked if Trump had spoken with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the CDC, about making the change, and Trump said he had, as Kennedy looked on.
Although hepatitis B is often associated with high-risk behaviors such as injection drug use or having multi …