CHICAGO (WLS) -- A local doctor is voicing concerns Friday, after a federal vaccine advisory committee voted to end the longstanding recommendation that all U.S. babies get the hepatitis B vaccine on the day they're born.
The decision is a departure from decades of U.S. vaccine policy. And while supporters applauded the decision, critics say the new policy could endanger children.
Some newborns will now no longer be advised to get the vaccine after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices decided to remove the universal recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.
"These decisions (are) not based in science, and so they're gonna put babies at risk of getting a life-altering illness," said Dr. Margaret Scotellaro, with Rush Children's Hospital.
The pediatrician is among the public health experts and medical professionals sounding the alarm following the vote by the panel.
The recommendation passed 8-to-3 to end the requirement by members of the panel, who were handpicked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long spoken out against certain vaccines. He fired the panel's 17 sitting members this year.
"The language offers flexibility, access, coverage at any time. I vote yes," ACIP member Hillary Blackburn said.
The panel wants the vaccine recommendation to be based on a mother's testing status instead, relying on individual decision-making in consultation with a health care provider, meaning if a mother tests negative for hepatitis B, parents should decide, with the guidance of their doctor, whether the shot is right for their newborn. If a mother tests positive for hepatitis B or has unknown status, parents should continue to get their newborn vaccinated.
Hepatitis B is a liver infection caused by a virus. It is highly infectious and can be dangerous to children and infants, and make them more likely to develop chronic disease.
Critics say the new policy change could have wide-reaching consequences.
"The problem is the infants that do get hepatitis B easier in that situation or they didn't know that someone in the family is a carrier of the illness, and so parents think they're making decision for their individual case, not thinking that they could be one of those other people who felt the same way. The wider implication is that this is eroding people's confidence in vaccines are safe and effective," Scotellaro said.
The policy change is not expected to affect insurance coverage.
Although the CDC acting director is expected to sign off on the recommendation, the change may not have much effect in Illinois after the governor signed into law a landmark bill ordering the state's department of public health to establish and publish its own vaccine guidelines.
The committee is expected in the near future to make other recommendations regarding older children and vaccine policy.