Vaccine advisers to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday weighed in on whether to scrap a broad recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine for children, with a vote planned for later in the day, in what would be the most significant shift in U.S. vaccination policy yet under the health secretary.

The U.S. vaccine panel has proposed that only infants born to mothers who test positive for hepatitis B would be recommended to get the vaccine. For all other newborns, the decision when or if to vaccinate should be left to parents, in consultation with their healthcare provider, it said.

  • proposed that only infants born to mothers who test positive for hepatitis B would be recommended to get the vaccine. For all other newborns, the decision when or if to vaccinate should be left to parents, in consultation with their healthcare provider, it said.

    Uh ... we've been there and done that and it DID NOT WORK.

    Many cases of Hepatitis B come from non-maternal sources ... like that kid in nursery school who bites, or great grandpa Bob who is a diabetic and also a hepB carrier because his tour in 'Nam has heroin and whores and is careless about disposing of his needles.

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  • Sorry kids.

    You’re fucked.

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  • Did they ever look back to find the reason the recommendation is in place? Like, maybe they’ve discovered that it’s a good idea to protect babies right away? Ugh. This whole administration is just…ugh.

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    The only real argument I've seen, besides the general antivaxxer "too many chemicals in the babies!" nonsense, is vague indignation and disgust that babies are being vaccinated against "an STD" and that by giving the HepB vaccine to infants, we are somehow... encouraging CSA or implying that it's an inevitability or acceptable or something.

    It's similar to the rationale against providing the HPV vaccine to preteens: "Why are we giving our kids STD-prevention vaccines when they shouldn't be having sex? This is sexualizing the children!"

    Never mind that

    • both HepB and HPV can be and are spread without sexual contact
    • HPV is the primary source of a significant number of highly lethal, difficult-to-treat cancers
    • HepB is a debilitating disease
    • both HepB and HPV are easily preventable with vaccines
    • the vaccines for both are proven extremely safe and effective

    Antivaxxers and right-wingers just latch on to the mere suggestion that a disease often spread through sexual contact might be a risk to a baby because they cannot imagine any other scenario after that point and instead of trying to prevent further suffering, they go after that prevention because it is what helped them imagine the scenario in the first place.

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  • This is terrifying

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