Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Vaccine Committee Could Vote Today To End Newborn Hepatitis B Shots
The New York Times: Will All Newborns Still Receive Hepatitis B Shots? A Committee’s Vote Will Tell
A federal vaccine committee is expected to vote on a significant change to the nation’s vaccine policy on Thursday, deciding whether to end a decades-long recommendation to immunize all babies at birth against hepatitis B, a highly contagious virus that can damage the liver. The committee, whose members were appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is most likely to end the practice, and to delay vaccination for most babies until they are older, Dr. Kirk Milhoan, the panel’s newly appointed chair, said in an interview. (Mandavilli, 12/4)
CIDRAP: Vaccinating Newborns Against Hepatitis B Saves Lives. Why Might A CDC Panel Stop Recommending It?
Alex Lee suffered for years because of a chronic hepatitis B infection. Like many people with chronic hepatitis B, Lee contracted the virus from his mother during birth. Lee didn't learn he was infected until he was 40, when his mother underwent a liver transplant due to organ failure caused by hepatitis B. By the time Lee was diagnosed, he already had advanced cirrhosis, a serious liver disease. (Szabo, 12/3)
The New York Times: Former F.D.A. Commissioners Sound Alarm On Plan To Change Vaccine Policy
In an article published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine, 12 former Food and Drug Administration commissioners sharply criticized anticipated changes to vaccine policy that were detailed in a leaked memo from an agency official. “We are deeply concerned by sweeping new F.D.A. assertions about vaccine safety and proposals that would undermine a regulatory model designed to ensure that vaccines are safe, effective and available when the public needs them most,” the former commissioners wrote. (Kirk, 12/3)
KFF Health News: Under Kennedy, America’s Health Department Is In The Business Of Promoting Kennedy
As health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wields one of the louder megaphones the federal government has. Yet he insists he doesn’t want to impose his opinions on Americans. “I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me,” Kennedy told a Democratic congressman in May. (Tahir, 12/4)
The Baltimore Sun: CDC's Vaccine Authority Falls Poll Shows - Young Americans Turn To Social Media
Americans’ confidence in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has plummeted, according to a 2025 National Foundation for Infectious Diseases survey released today, and many young people are getting vaccine advice from social media. (Hille, 12/3)
In other news about vaccines —
CIDRAP: US Measles Outbreak Tops 1,800 Cases As Respiratory Illness Surveillance Returns
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today confirmed 30 more measles cases reported in the United States this past week, raising the national total to 1,828 confirmed cases so far in 2025. Current US hot spots are Utah, Arizona, and South Carolina, where outbreaks among predominately unvaccinated or under-vaccinated people have led to community spread and widespread quarantines at schools. The CDC added that it will be updating respiratory surveillance data on Fridays, the same day FluView is published. (Soucheray, 12/3)
Fox News: Shingles Vaccine May Slow Dementia Progression In Existing Patients
The shingles vaccine could slow the progress of dementia, according to a new study from Stanford. These findings follow previous research that found older adults who received the vaccine were 20% less likely to develop dementia over the next seven years compared to those who didn't get the shot. (Quill, 12/3)
CIDRAP: Single HPV Vaccine Dose Matches Protection Of 2-Dose Regimen, New Trial Shows
A large-scale randomized controlled trial from Costa Rica finds that one dose of either a bivalent (two-strain) or nonavalent (nine-strain) human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine provides the same protection against infection with the HPV16 or HPV18 types as the more common two-dose series, offering a potentially transformative tool for global cervical cancer prevention. HPV types 16 and 18 cause more than 77% of cervical cancers worldwide. (Bergeson, 12/3)
CIDRAP: Global Whooping Cough Resurgence After COVID Lull May Point To Need For Better Vaccines
After a lull during the COVID-19 pandemic, pertussis (whooping cough) has made a resurgence—especially in adolescents—with larger outbreaks than those seen during recent peaks in many countries, according to a summary of an online workshop organized by the International Bordetella Society in mid-November. While most countries didn’t experience significant declines in pertussis vaccination during the pandemic, better vaccines may be needed to more fully protect against infection and curb disease transmission of circulating strains, the authors said. (Van Beusekom, 12/3)
