tag:reuters.com,2009:newsml_PM1E5991AV601:1059798681
(Washington, DC) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel voted December 5th to change the recommendation for when children should get their first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. Instead of a first dose within 24 hours of birth — as the CDC has advised for more than 30 years — the panel voted to recommend delaying it until a child is 2 months old for children born to mothers who test negative for the virus.
In an 8-2 decision, the panel vote to recommend individual decision-making in consultation with a health care provider to determine when or if to give the hepatitis B birth dose to a child whose mother tested negative for the virus. Members of the panel were all appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Restef Levi, an Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices member and mathematician who has no medical training, strongly argued against the universal birth dose, falsely claiming that experts had “never tested (the vaccines) appropriately.”
Many medical experts and organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics opposed such a change, saying it will leave young children at risk of an infection that can cause lifelong illness.
A recent study credits immunization at birth for a 99-percent drop in childhood Hepatitis B infections.
Lori Martin Gregory is a 4th generation journalist and former Wall Street Executive for Biotech and Pharma who began fighting for health freedom in 2015.
The birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine has become a target of vaccine critics, including Kennedy, who falsely claimed on a podcast in June that it was a “likely culprit” in autism.
US health secretary and vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr has called for the retraction of a Danish study that found no link between aluminium in vaccines and chronic diseases in children — a rare move for a US public official. Aluminium has been used for almost a century to enhance the immune system’s response to some vaccines. But some people claim the ingredient is linked to rising rates of childhood disorders such as autism.
Kennedy had previously been asked by President Trump to lead a new commission on vaccine safety and scientific integrity. Autism Science Foundation President Alison Singer released the following statement in reaction to Mr. Kennedy’s comments:
“The scientific research has been done and the results are clear – vaccines do not cause autism. Some people may choose not to believe the facts, but perpetuating a myth from the very highest levels poses a dangerous threat to public health. Creating a commission makes it look like scientists have not already studied this issue for many years, and it may lead people to think this is still an open question. It is not.
