Pull to refresh
Logo
Daily Brief
Following Why Ranks Sign Up
Vicky Pebsworth

Vicky Pebsworth

Chair, ACIP Childhood/Adolescent Schedule Workgroup

Appears in 2 stories

Notable Quotes

Pebsworth told the panel that 'infants born to mothers who test negative have extremely low risk of horizontal infection and therefore do not need to be routinely vaccinated with the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.'([washingtonpost.com](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/12/04/cdc-acip-hepatitis-b-vaccine-recommendation/?utm_source=openai))

Pebsworth’s briefing emphasized that the U.S. universal hepatitis B birth dose made the country an outlier among developed nations with low endemicity, bolstering arguments for a more targeted approach. ([cdc.gov](https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2025/2025-acip-recommends-individual-based-decision-making-for-hepatitis-b-vaccine-for-infants-born-to-women.html?utm_source=openai))

Stories

US hepatitis B birth-dose policy upended by new vaccine advisory panel

Rule Changes

Key internal proponent of revising the birth-dose recommendation

In December 2025, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 8–3 to end the universal recommendation for hepatitis B vaccination within 24 hours of birth. The committee was reconstituted by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. On December 16, 2025, Acting CDC Director Jim O'Neill formally adopted the recommendation.

Updated 6 days ago

ACIP moves to end universal hepatitis B shots at birth

Rule Changes

Led policy context and international comparison for hepatitis B schedule

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 8–3 on December 5, 2025 to end the recommendation that every U.S. newborn receive a hepatitis B shot within 24 hours of birth. The committee had been recently overhauled under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; acting CDC Director Jim O'Neill ratified the change on December 16, 2025.

Updated 7 days ago