Five Michigan Hospital Systems Disregard CDC ACIP Hepatitis B Vaccine Recommendation

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 8-3 in favor of altering the recommendation that all newborns receive hepatitis B vaccinations at birth on December 5th.  This vote finally brought the United States into line with 19 of the other 21 nations with low HBsAg+ incidences. Only Canada (with twice our prevalence of HBsAg+ incidence) among low incidence nations requires any HBV vaccinations of newly-born infants, and this requirement varies among internal jurisdictions. The Canadian requirement is generally based upon immigration status and the HBsAg+ incidence in the mother's country of origin.

The guidance ACIP voted was:

For infants born to HBsAg-negative women: ACIP recommends individual-based decision-making, in consultation with a health care provider, for parents deciding when or if to give the HBV vaccine, including the birth dose. A Parents and health care providers should consider vaccine benefits, vaccine risks, and infection risks. For those not receiving the HBV birth dose, it is suggested that the initial dose is administered no earlier than 2 months of age.

Five Michigan health care systems have chosen to disregard the ACIP recommendation.  Are they exposing themselves to legal risks?  Their decisions reek of the knee jerk TDS reactions against hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin:

https://www.freep.com/story/news/health/2025/12/14/michigan-hospitals-hepatitis-b-vaccine-at-birth-childhood-immunization-schedule-cdc-acip/87700948007/

5 Michigan health systems defy federal vaccine panel's advice
By Kristen Jordan Shamus - December 14, 2025

• A vaccine advisory committee to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to change the recommendations for when babies should get a first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.
• That decision led the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to issue a statement "strongly" disagreeing. Medical societies issued their own hepatitis B vaccine guidelines.
• Now, 5 Michigan health systems say they'll disregard the recommendations of the CDC committee and continue to provide a birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine to babies in their first 24 hours of life.

Some of Michigan's largest health systems say they will not follow the recommendations of a federal vaccine advisory panel handpicked by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which voted in early December to change longstanding immunization guidelines and delay a first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine for infants.

Instead, five health systems — Corewell Health, Henry Ford Health, McLaren Health Care, Munson Healthcare and the University of Michigan Health — told the Detroit Free Press they will continue to provide universal hepatitis B vaccines within the first 24 hours after a child's birth.

Following two days of meetings in early December, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended the hepatitis B dose at birth only for newborns whose mothers test positive for the hepatitis B virus. For other infants, it recommended waiting two months to administer the initial dose of the vaccine and to conduct blood tests to determine whether additional booster doses are needed.

CDC vaccine panel

With a vote of 8-3, the committee said the change would reduce unnecessary immunizations in the first few weeks of a child's life and give parents more control.

The committee compared the U.S. childhood immunization schedule to policy in other wealthy countries, notably Denmark, which does not recommend a universal birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. It also suggested the risk is low for contracting hepatitis B in newborns whose mothers test negative for the virus during pregnancy.

However, overwhelmingly, medical associations and have said the hepatitis B virus is highly contagious and can be passed to babies through contact with blood and certain body fluids not only from an infected mother during birth, but also by sharing towels, toothbrushes, nail clippers, combs or razors with an infected person. Children can get it through contact sports or exposure to contaminated medical equipment.

Prevention is key, they said. The virus attacks the liver, can cause cancer and lead to liver failure and premature death. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reports that about 90% of infants infected at birth develop chronic hepatitis B infection, with 1 in 4 of these children dying prematurely from liver disease.

It causes 22,000 infections and 2,000 deaths annually in the U.S.

Since the United States began universally vaccinating against hepatitis B at birth in 1991, annual infections among infants and children have dropped 99% — from 16,000 to less than 20, said Dr. Lisa Costello, chair of the state government affairs committee for the American Academy of Pediatrics, said during a Dec. 7 news conference.

Many of the people who have hepatitis B don't know they're infected, as symptoms of chronic infection sometimes don't appear for years after a person contracted the virus.

The birth dose offers "vital protection at delivery and in the days and weeks after birth, when infants may be exposed to caregivers with unrecognized infection," Costello said.

Dr. Anand Parekh, chief health policy officer at the U-M School of Public Health and senior adviser at the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, said the hepatitis B vaccine has a proven safety record.

"We have decades and decades of safety data," Parekh said. "The ACIP committee presented no new data about safety concerns, yet changed the guidelines anyway.

"Unfortunately, what it does is it adds another layer of confusion for the parents and families out there who have always looked to the CDC as a source that they could trust. Now, they hear these mixed messages. They may go online. They may consult their personal clinician, which I hope they do, but it just adds confusion in an area where, really, there is no reason to be confused. This is pretty straightforward."

The state health department issued a statement "strongly" disagreeing with the committee's decision, and urged Michigan health care providers to continue offering the birth dose of the vaccine, which is supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists.

However, President Donald Trump took to social media hours after the CDC committee made its controversial decision, and defended the change in hepatitis B vaccine recommendations. He also challenged the agency's recommended U.S. childhood vaccine schedule altogether.

"Many parents and scientists have been questioning the efficacy of this 'schedule,' as have I," he wrote on Truth Social. "That is why I have just signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Department of Health and Human Services to 'FAST TRACK' a comprehensive evaluation of Vaccine Schedules."

Historically, the ACIP has reviewed scientific data and made recommendations to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If the recommendations are accepted by the agency's director, the CDC can use it to shape national health policy. Kennedy overhauled the committee earlier this year, appointing some members who are vaccine skeptics. As of Dec. 12, CDC Acting Director Jim O'Neill had not signed off on ACIP's recommended changes to the hepatitis B vaccine schedule.

It doesn't officially become CDC policy until O'Neill approves it. Insurance companies look to ACIP and CDC guidelines to determine what they will cover. State governments have the final authority over vaccine policy, however, and can set mandates, such as immunization requirements for children to enroll in public schools. States also can determine whether exemptions to those vaccine requirements are allowed.

Dr. Brian Tesler, McLaren Health Care's medical director of women’s health, said the Grand Blanc-based hospital system will continue to offer the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine as "part of our standard of care, determining that this effective, safe vaccine remains in the best interest of infant’s health and the community’s protection."

"Though federal guidance has adjusted, our clinical leaders also consider and consult the recommendations of the various organizations establishing pre- and postnatal standards of care. ... While we remain firm in our mandate of providing safe, evidence-based care, our providers will ensure that parents are fully informed and involved in the decision-making process.

"Our providers will engage patients, inform them of their options, and support the parents in their decisions that align with their personal values and the needs of their newborn."

A spokesperson for Detroit-based Henry Ford Health told the Free Press its recommendations "currently remain unchanged. Any proposed changes to the newborn vaccine schedule would need to be thoroughly reviewed by the system’s immunization committee, which considers the latest scientific evidence and guidance from professional groups."

Munson Healthcare said its eight northern Michigan hospitals also will not adopt the two-month delay in administering the hepatitis B vaccine.

“We strive to use evidence-based practices to drive our medical recommendations," said Dr. Joe Santagelo, chief medical, quality and safety officer for the Traverse city-based health system. "The scientific consensus is that the birth dose of hepatitis B should still be recommended to newborns, and we will continue to offer that option to our families.”

Corewell Health issued a statement saying it, too, will continue to offer a birth dose to newborns, noting that the hepatitis B virus "can have serious long-term effects, including chronic liver disease and liver cancer. If parents have questions about whether a child should receive a vaccination, they should have a conversation with their physician."

A spokesperson for Trinity Health Michigan said in a Dec. 10 email message to the Free Press that the Livonia-based health system is still considering the ACIP recommendation.

"We’re aware of the recent policy developments and are reviewing them," said spokesperson Bobby Maldonado. "No decisions have been made at this time. We’ll continue to evaluate guidance from public health authorities with patient safety as our top priority."

Dr. Pamela Rockwell, a clinical professor of family medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and co-chair of the U-M Immunization Committee, said under Kennedy, the CDC and its vaccine advisory committee have lost credibility. Medical providers are being forced to adjust in the face of that realization.

"In my opinion, they're already irrelevant," she said. "We have changed the language in all our documents that I have access to as co-chair of our immunization committee at the University of Michigan to take out any references to CDC guidelines."

Instead, she said, U-M is following evidence-based recommendations from MDHHS, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists.

It's a big departure from the way the U.S. medical system has worked in the past.

"I do think major organizations were hesitant to go there because they also fear retaliation from the federal government, but this is about health care and doing what's right for public health and the health of our patients," Rockwell said. "It's about educating the public and making sure they still have trust in their physicians and major organizations who do not have political bias."

She urged people with questions about vaccine safety to look for information from reputable sources, such as the medical societies and associations, iVaccinate.org and immunize.org or talk to their doctors. During the continuing medical education lectures she leads, Rockwell said she now tells physicians: "We can no longer trust the CDC as a source for recommendations."

Dr. Jason Goldman, president of the American College of Physicians, said professional medical associations are stepping up to fill a gap in providing vaccine recommendations that are free from bias or political influence at a time when government agencies like the CDC are losing trust.

"ACIP should be comprised of members with significant expertise and knowledge in clinical medicine, public health and immunology who are committed to providing evidence-based recommendations," he said. "There should be guardrails in place to ensure that ACIP remains free from political interference so that the advisory committee panel functions as a highly credible, evidence-based source for vaccine guidance. This new ACIP has not followed the standard and transparent process that had made the advisory committee a bastion of good, evidence-based decision-making.

"They handpick data in a nontransparent way, misrepresent facts and did not have a clear, consistent, transparent process to be able to analyze it or could even explain why they were using it. ... Their information and decisions cannot be trusted."

He called on Trump to remove Kennedy from his position and "restore an ACIP that we can trust."

Parekh said the CDC committee's recommendation to delay the hepatitis B vaccine for babies will further escalate vaccine hesitancy among parents, which already has driven outbreaks of measles and pertussis. Soon, we could see hepatitis B infections rise in young children, too.

"I think the irony for policymakers these days who are touting the importance of reversing the chronic disease epidemic in the United States, if you adopt this recommendation, you are tragically increasing the risk for chronic disease in children," Parekh said. "It's the exact opposite effect of the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) Commission's focus on reversing the chronic disease epidemic.

"The worry is that we're going backwards," he said. "Right now, the focus should be 100% on reducing vaccine-preventable illnesses and ensuring that we can maximize uptake rates of vaccines that have been shown to be safe and effective. Instead, we seem to be questioning vaccines that have been proven to be safe and effective without any new data that has come to light."