Panel Votes to Stop Recommending Hepatitis B Shots at Birth for Most Newborns

In a move toward Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s goal of upending vaccine policy, the committee recommended delaying the shots for infants whose mothers test negative for the virus.

Published December 5, 2025

Published by: The New York Times
Published on: December 5, 2025
By Apoorva Mandavilli

A federal vaccine committee took a major step toward Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s goal of remaking the childhood vaccine schedule on Friday, voting to end a decades-long recommendation that all newborns be immunized at birth against hepatitis B, a highly infectious virus that can cause severe liver damage.

The divisiveness and dysfunction of the committee in making the decision, however, raised questions about the reliability of the advisory process and left at least one critic “very concerned about the future” of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, voted 8 to 3 that women who test negative for hepatitis B should consult with their health care provider and decide “when or if” their child will be vaccinated against the virus at birth. The committee did not change the recommendation that newborns of mothers known to be infected or whose status is unknown be immunized. The shift is not expected to affect insurance coverage of the shots.

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vaccines

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines do not increase mortality, a study shows

Published December 4, 2025

Published by: Radio-Canada / Agence France-Presse
Published on: December 4, 2025

COVID-19 vaccines have not caused an increase in mortality in France since their appearance in the early 2020s, according to a study that refutes the widespread false theories prevalent in vaccine skeptic circles.

“COVID messenger RNA [mRNA] vaccines do not increase the long-term risk of all-cause mortality,” states Epi-Phare, a French organization comprising the Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament (ANSM) and Assurance maladie, in a study published in JAMA Network Open (opens in a new window).

To reach these conclusions, its authors examined data from nearly 30 million French people between 2021 and 2025, representing the entire 18-59 age group.

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influenza

Children’s hospitals in Canada face flood of flu visits as doctors urge families to get vaccinated

High volumes put strain on limited pediatric hospital capacity, with flu season set to peak later this month

Published December 4, 2025

Published by: CBC News
Published on: December 4, 2025
By Lauren Pelley

An early start to Canada’s flu season is hitting children hard, sending a flood of young patients into multiple pediatric hospitals as medical teams warn that emergency visits and admissions could keep climbing in the weeks ahead.

At CHEO, eastern Ontario’s children’s hospital in Ottawa, eight times more children tested positive for influenza in November compared with the same month in 2024, while double the number of children needed to be hospitalized. Most of those children hadn’t had a seasonal flu vaccine, according to CHEO’s emergency department team.

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pro-virus policies

Vaccine Committee May Make Significant Changes to Childhood Schedule

Comments by President Trump, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and some panelists suggest the committee is likely to delay hepatitis B shots and discuss revising the use of other vaccines.

Published December 2, 2025

Published by: The New York Times
Published on: December 2, 2025
By Apoorva Mandavilli

Advisers to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appear poised to make consequential changes to the childhood vaccination schedule, delaying a shot that is routinely administered to newborns and discussing big changes to when or how other childhood immunizations are given.

Decisions by the group are not legally binding, but they have profound implications for whether private insurance and government assistance programs are required to cover the vaccines.

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Ontario

Ontario wrote off $1.4B of PPE, province burning expired equipment: auditor

Province still buying masks, other protective gear at same levels as height of the pandemic

Published December 2, 2025

Published by: CBC News / The Canadian Press
Published on: December 2, 2025
By Liam Casey

Ontario wrote off more than one billion items of personal protective equipment at a cost of $1.4 billion since 2021, the province’s auditor general found.

Shelley Spence found the province continues to purchase masks, gowns and other protective gear at the same levels as the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, despite significantly declining demand.

“We found that expired products began to accumulate in the provincial stockpile as some of the products purchased during the pandemic fell short of desired quality standards and were not used,” Spence wrote in her annual report.

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AIDS

New HIV prevention guidelines say doctors should not be ‘gatekeeping’ PrEP

Published December 1, 2025

Published by: The Canadian Press
Published on: December 1, 2025
By Hannah Alberga

A coalition of doctors across Canada is releasing a new guideline for prescribing medications that can prevent HIV infection, with a strong focus on increasing the promotion and awareness of the expanding class of drugs.

The clinical guideline published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal provides 31 recommendations and 10 good practices for prescribing antiretroviral medication before and after a potential HIV exposure to prevent infection.

Lead author Dr. Darrell Tan said 19 physicians volunteered their time over the last three years to review the latest research and write the new guidelines, as the range of available pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) options has expanded since the last guidance was released in 2017.

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Month: December 2025