Chair Cassidy on ACIP Postponing Vote on Hep B Vaccine Recommendation

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a statement on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) postponing a vote to change the recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns. If a recommendation for a vaccine is altered without a scientific basis, insurance companies may decide to no longer cover it for patients free of charge. Additionally, doctors will lack the necessary information to counsel families, so they make the best health care decisions for their children.

At Wednesday's hearing, Cassidy underscored the importance of families having access to the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.

"President Trump and I agree: vaccines save lives. If a mom wants to get a lifesaving hepatitis B vaccine to protect her newborn, she should be able to get it," said Dr. Cassidy. "The proposed ACIP recommendation could have put that access at risk, making it harder for that mom or that parent to protect their child against hepatitis B. Postponing the vote was the right call."

"Children's health should be the top priority. We must ensure that any vaccine recommendation protects patient choice and never takes away families' access to safe, effective vaccines," continued Dr. Cassidy.

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