OAN Staff Cory Hawkins
6:05 PM – Wednesday, December 17, 2025
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now officially recommends “individual-based decision-making” for women deciding whether to give the hepatitis-B to their newborns within 24 hours of birth, as opposed to universally recommending that all newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine.
Individual-based decision-making means parents and health care providers should consider vaccine benefits, vaccine risks, and infection risks.
Parents should consult with their healthcare provider and decide if and when their child will begin the hepatitis B vaccine.
The proposed recommendations will not affect the supply of the hepatitis B vaccine, and the vaccine will still be offered if a mother is interested. The agency’s vaccine advisory committee voted for the recommendation earlier this month, uprooting more than three decades of agency recommendations.
“We are restoring the balance of informed consent to parents whose newborns face little risk of contracting hepatitis B,” said Jim O’Neil, acting director of the CDC.
Since 1991, the CDC had recommended that parents allow the vaccination following their child’s birth. The CDC now advises that if a baby does not receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, the first dose may be given at or after 2 months of age.
However, the CDC continues to recommend that babies receive the vaccine within 24 hours of birth if their mother tests positive for hepatitis B or if the mother’s infection status is unknown.
Nonetheless, Hepatitis B vaccination shortly after birth has never been legally mandatory, technically, and the timing has traditionally been a topic for discussion between parents and healthcare providers.
Hepatitis B is a liver infection caused by an infectious virus. Transmission typically happens through blood or genital fluids from an infected person and passage of the infection can easily occur during childbirth.
Many adults clear the acute hepatitis B infection. However, acute infections can lead to chronic hepatitis B, which is linked to increased risk of liver cancer, organ failure and cirrhosis, and scarring of the liver. Statistics show people with chronic hepatitis B are 70% to 85% more likely to have a premature death.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
What do YOU think? Click here to jump to the comments!
Sponsored Content Below