Doctors and public health experts are watching closely as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prepares for a key meeting with its vaccine panel. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a group of 12 medical advisers, is expected to decide by Thursday whether hepatitis vaccines should be given to newborns at birth.
The vote could change course from the committee’s 1991 recommendation, which shaped vaccine policy for more than three decades.
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Ousted CDC director testifies on political pressure
Ousted after just 29 days on the job, CDC Director Susan Monarez testified Wednesday in front of Congress. She told the room full of lawmakers that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was forcing her to sign off on changes to childhood vaccine recommendations regardless of having scientific evidence in place.
“He just wanted blanket approval. And if I could not commit to approval of each and every one of the recommendations that would be forthcoming, I needed to resign,” she testified. “I did not resign, and that is when he told me he had already spoken to the White House about having me removed.”
Just weeks earlier, Kennedy praised Monarez as a public health expert with the scientific background to help reform the CDC. But his tone later shifted, with him describing her as untrustworthy.
During the hearing, Monarez expressed that she’s nervous about this week’s meetings of the ACIP because the panel will vote on whether recommendations for COVID-19, hepatitis B and chickenpox should be changed. Before she was forced to leave her position, Monarez said she was informed a new childhood vaccine schedule would be rolled out in September.
During questioning, Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee with jurisdiction over the CDC, expressed skepticism about Monarez’s dismissal and warned that the move is deepening mistrust between the CDC and the medical community.
“If doctors do not have clear guidance or have a reason to distrust what’s coming out of the CDC, they cannot make informed decisions to protect their patients. Children, and I would say adults’, health is at risk,” he said.
Hepatitis B vaccine credited with preventing thousands of infections
Cassidy, a hepatologist with years of experience treating liver disease, closed the hearing by stressing the importance of hepatitis prevention. He recalled seeing patients die from the illness and warned that newborns face particular risk during delivery. Passing through the birth canal can expose infants to the virus, he said, and more than 90% of babies infected at birth go on to develop chronic, lifelong infections.
“Before 1991, as many as 20,000 babies were infected with hepatitis B in the United States of America,” Cassidy said. “That changed when the hepatitis B vaccine was approved for newborns.”
He went on to stress, the vaccine is a choice and mothers can either accept or decline the shot.
“In the decade following approval of birth dose of hepatitis B, newborn infection of hepatitis B reduced by 68%,” Cassidy said. Now, data shows fewer than 20 babies contract the disease from their mother each year, he added.
Health plans reaffirm vaccine coverage
AHIP said Monday that health insurers are dedicated to making vaccines affordable and accessible for patients. Coverage decisions, the group said, are guided by careful evaluation of scientific evidence and clinical research, as well as ongoing review of multiple data sources.
The organization said plans will continue to cover all vaccines recommended by the CDC’s ACIP as of Sept. 1, 2025, including the latest COVID-19 and influenza formulations, with no out-of-pocket costs through 2026.
Health insurers must cover vaccines at no cost when they are recommended by the ACIP and adopted by the CDC.
West Coast Health Alliance issues its own guidance
The upcoming decision has already led four Democratic-led states — California, Oregon, Hawaii and Washington — to issue their own guidance. The states, known as the West Coast Health Alliance, accused the Trump administration of putting public health at risk.
On Wednesday, the governors of those states criticized Kennedy, saying he politicized the CDC by reshaping its vaccine advisory committee. Kennedy dismissed 17 members who had been serving on the panel and replaced them with hand-picked appointees that include some vaccine skeptics.
“Our states are united in putting science, safety, and transparency first — and in protecting families with clear, credible vaccine guidance,” Governors Gavin Newsom, Tina Kotek, Bob Ferguson and Josh Green said in a joint statement. “The West Coast Health Alliance stands united in protecting public health and always putting safety before politics.”
The West Coast Health Alliance is urging people to stay up to date on vaccines for the 2025-26 respiratory virus season. The group, which relies on guidance from major medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, said shots for COVID-19, flu and RSV remain the strongest defense against illness.
Their recommendations focus on those most likely to get seriously sick, including infants, older adults, pregnant women and anyone living or working in close quarters. Children as young as 6 months are advised to get COVID-19 and flu shots, with RSV protection recommended for babies and toddlers at risk.
Pregnant people are encouraged to get vaccinated to help protect themselves and their newborns.
HHS pushes back on state recommendations
In a statement to The Associated Press, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon criticized the vaccine recommendations.
“Democrat-run states that pushed unscientific school lockdowns, toddler mask mandates and draconian vaccine passports during the COVID era completely eroded the American people’s trust in public health agencies,” Nixon said. “HHS will ensure policy is based on rigorous evidence and Gold Standard Science, not the failed politics of the pandemic.”
