Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Rule Changes

Adopted ACIP’s revised hepatitis B birth-dose policy on December 16, 2025; reviewing serology testing recommendation

On December 5, 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)—recently overhauled under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—voted 8–3 to end the longstanding recommendation that every U.S. newborn receive a hepatitis B vaccine dose within 24 hours of birth. For babies whose mothers test negative for hepatitis B, the panel now advises individualized decision-making with parents and suggests delaying the first dose until at least two months of age, while retaining the birth dose for infants whose mothers are infected or whose status is unknown; acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill ratified this on December 16, 2025.

Updated Feb 5

Force in Play

Tracking cases, assessing elimination status, and supporting state outbreak responses

Measles, the virus the U.S. declared vanquished in 2000, is back with a vengeance. In 2025 it has infected nearly 2,000 Americans, with runaway outbreaks now in South Carolina’s Upstate and the Arizona–Utah border towns, forcing hundreds of mostly unvaccinated students and families into quarantine.

Updated Dec 11, 2025