In a radical departure from decades of public health consensus, a US advisory panel has voted to strip the recommendation that all newborns receive the Hepatitis B vaccine immediately after birth.

The decision, driven by appointees of US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., signals a profound shift in American health policy that experts fear could ripple outward, undermining immunization confidence in nations like Kenya where Hepatitis B remains a critical threat.

A Rollback on Routine Care

The panel, convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), voted on Friday to dismantle the standard requirement for universal newborn vaccination. Instead, the committee recommended that parents of infants whose mothers test negative for hepatitis should decide when—or if—their child receives the vaccine, in consultation with a doctor.

This move mirrors the Trump administration’s aggressive skepticism toward established medical norms. President Donald Trump welcomed the decision, signing a memo to review aligning child immunization with practices from "peer, developed countries."

However, infectious disease specialists argue this introduces dangerous ambiguity. "This is going to lead to an increase in preventable infections among children," warned Michaela Jackson, program director of prevention policy at the Hepatitis B Foundation. She emphasized that the vote effectively removes safety nets by creating barriers to access.

The Kenyan Context

For Kenyan families, this development is more than just foreign news; it sets a concerning precedent. Kenya’s Expanded Programme on Immunization (KEPI) strictly adheres to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, which advocate for a birth dose of the Hepatitis B vaccine to prevent mother-to-child transmission.

Unlike the US, where screening resources are abundant, universal vaccination at birth is the primary defense in Sub-Saharan Africa against a virus that causes chronic liver disease and cancer. Experts are concerned that the US policy shift could embolden anti-vaccine rhetoric locally.

• Confusion: The new US guidance replaces a clear mandate with a complex decision-making process for parents.
• Access: In the US, this change may allow insurance providers to deny coverage for the birth dose, a move that disproportionately affects low-income families.
• Trust: As Jackson noted, "parents are not going to know who to trust any longer," a sentiment that travels fast on social media.

While the CDC advisers' recommendations are technically non-binding, they historically dictate official US policy and insurance coverage. The shift marks a significant victory for the "medical freedom" movement championed by Kennedy Jr., but leaves public health advocates bracing for a resurgence of a virus that had been successfully contained for a generation.