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MDHHS Releases Statement After ACIP Delays Hepatitis B Birth Dose
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) released a statement regarding the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) decision to delay the hepatitis B birth dose. They stressed that vaccines, like those against Hepatitis B, remain vital for controlling infectious diseases. The agency sharply criticized the decision by the ACIP to delay the recommended birth-dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. MDHHS urges families and health providers to continue following the immunization timelines laid out by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
According to MDHHS, nearly 1.6 million people in the United States live with chronic hepatitis B, many unaware of their infection. The virus causes an estimated 22,000 new infections and 2,000 deaths yearly across the country. Without timely vaccination, infants exposed at birth face especially high risks: around 90% become chronically infected, and one in four may die prematurely from liver disease.
Since the U.S. adopted universal newborn hepatitis B vaccination, including a birth dose, in 1991 (with widespread implementation by 2002), hepatitis B among children and adolescents has almost disappeared. Experts warn that delaying the birth dose could reverse decades of progress, causing preventable lifelong infections in thousands of children. Efforts to prevent hepatitis B initially focused on vaccinating only at-risk individuals, such as adults with certain risk behaviors. That strategy failed to stop childhood cases because many infected infants were born to mothers who either weren’t tested or screened negative at the time, and because hepatitis B can spread through casual contact.
The new ACIP recommendation would eliminate the automatic birth-dose of the hepatitis B vaccine for all newborns and instead limit it to infants born to mothers who test positive or whose status is unknown. Public health experts warn that this shift could result in a resurgence of pediatric hepatitis B, as infants without the early dose are more vulnerable to exposure from birth or through casual early-life contact such as shared household items or minor blood exposure. Without timely vaccination, more infants are expected to develop chronic hepatitis B, a condition that occurs in roughly 90% of babies infected at birth and carries significant lifetime health risks. Chronic carriers face a substantially higher likelihood—12 to 300 times greater—of developing cirrhosis or liver cancer compared to those not infected. Critics also caution that replacing universal vaccination with shared decision-making may increase delays or missed doses, particularly in underserved or higher-risk communities, ultimately weakening community-level protection and reversing decades of public health progress.
MDHHS underscores the hepatitis B vaccine’s proven safety and effectiveness, noting that the birth-dose policy has nearly eliminated the disease among U.S. children and adolescents. The agency warns that delaying the vaccine could lead to new infections and lifelong illness, undermining decades of progress in preventing hepatitis B. The decision by ACIP to delay the hepatitis B birth dose, and shift toward individualized decision-making, represents a significant policy change, one that many states and health experts believe risks undoing years of public health gains.
View the MAPPP and MSMS Joint Statement on Hepatitis B Vaccinations