Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration announced Friday that New Jersey will continue to recommend the hepatitis B vaccination for all newborns at birth even though a panel appointed by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and aligned with his views voted to change the policy. Acting state Department of Health Commissioner Jeffrey A. Brown issued an executive directive continuing to recommend all newborns in New Jersey receive one dose
of hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth. This comes in direct response to recommendations issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Hepatitis B Vaccination is an essential safety net for newborns. Since roughly 1991, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended all babies get a dose of the hepatitis B vaccine at birth. Within 10 years of the universal birth dose recommendation being in place, hepatitis B cases among U.S. children ages 6–19 dropped by 68%. Without vaccination, as many as 9 in 10 infants infected with hepatitis B in their first year of life will develop chronic infection that can lead to liver failure and death. The CDC committee that helps set vaccine policy voted Dec. 5 to overturn that decades long policy. Why vaccination begins at birth.