Senator Murray: RFK Jr.’s Hand-Picked Anti-Vax Panel has “Destroyed Any Shred of Credibility” with Dangerous Removal of Universal Hep B Vaccine Recommendation

CDC vaccine advisory panel ends universal recommendation of Hepatitis B vaccine for newborns, unless mother's status is positive or unknown

One in four children with chronic Hepatitis B will later die from liver disease

Murray: "RFK Jr. should never have been confirmed, and until he does the only responsible thing and resigns-we should be working aggressively to push back against his parade of nonsense that is putting families in danger."

ICYMI: Senator Murray Slams Planned Changes to Hepatitis B Vaccine at Upcoming ACIP Meeting

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, issued the following statement after vaccine advisors handpicked by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to end the recommendation of vaccinating all newborns for hepatitis B at birth, without any new evidence prompting the change. Senator Murray has been a sharp critic of Secretary Kennedy, even before his confirmation-and has repeatedly called for him to be fired. This vaccine recommendation change comes despite robust evidence that the hepatitis B vaccine is safe and effective, and has reduced infant hepatitis B infections by 99 percent since the U.S. first began recommending the first dose at-birth in 1991.

"RFK Jr.'s hand-picked anti-vax panel has removed any doubt about their obvious bias, and destroyed any shred of credibility for their decision-making process. In their singled-minded march to end the long established Hepatitis B vaccine recommendation that has saved countless lives, they discarded decades of established science, misrepresented medical studies, and ignored all critics. CDC should reject this dangerous suggestion that will simply mean more babies die in the United States.

"The painful truth is, much like Hepatitis B infections, this outcome was completely avoidable to anyone willing to look seriously at the facts. RFK Jr. has spent decades crusading against vaccines, and it has been clear from the start that he would use all the power available to him as Health Secretary to continue this dangerous campaign. In this case, a mere recommendation-not a mandate-that parents get newborns a lifesaving vaccine, was too much for RFK Jr. and his anti-vax cronies to stomach.

"The hard truth is that right now our Secretary of Health is one of our nation's biggest health threats and largest sources of health disinformation, and we must demand accountability. RFK Jr. should never have been confirmed, and until he does the only responsible thing and resigns-we should be working aggressively to push back against his parade of nonsense that is putting families in danger, and that should start with a long-overdue hearing before the HELP Committee."

The American Academy of Pediatrics continues to recommend routine Hepatitis B vaccination for all newborns: All babies should receive a first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth, a second dose at one to two months, and a third dose at six months. The pacing of these doses has been rigorously tested and proven to be safe and effective over several decades.

###