Tell California Leaders to Follow the New Federal Hepatitis B Guidance—Not Double Down on Outdated, Unsafe Policy

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Last week, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to update its national guidance on the Hepatitis B vaccine for infants.

Under the new federal recommendation, only infants born to mothers who test positive for Hepatitis B, or whose status is unknown, should receive the vaccine at birth. 

For infants not receiving the birth dose, ACIP recommended that an initial dose be administered no earlier than 2 months of age. ACIP also recommended a shared clinical decision-making process with healthcare professionals to help parents decide when, or if, their child will begin the hepatitis B vaccine series.

In other words, ACIP is not telling families that their children automatically need a Hep B vaccine. Instead, parents are advised to “consider vaccine benefits, vaccine risks, and infection risks.”

HHS has formally confirmed this shift toward individualized, risk-based care. But instead of supporting this long-overdue correction, Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the ACIP vote and suggested that California would ignore the new federal guidance.

Soon after, the Western Coast Health Alliance (CA–OR–WA) issued its own statement reaffirming that California will continue to set vaccine policy independent of the CDC—regardless of updated evidence or safety concerns.

This means California may continue pressuring families into immediate newborn Hep B vaccination—even when the mother is Hep B negative, even when there is no risk, and even when parents object.

This is unacceptable.

California must end unnecessary newborn exposure to a vaccine containing one of the highest aluminum doses on the entire childhood schedule.

Please call Governor Newsom and your state legislators today. Urge them to adopt ACIP’s updated recommendation and end mandatory newborn Hep B shots in California.

TAKE ACTION:

1. Call Governor Newsom’s office and tell him you strongly oppose his rejection of the new ACIP guidance. 

Phone: (916) 445-2841

2. Contact your California State Assemblymember and Senator and ask them to urge CDPH to align state policy with the new federal recommendation.

Find your legislators here:
 https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/

Phone calls are best, but emails help too.

SAMPLE SCRIPT:

“Hello, my name is ____ and I am a California resident. I’m calling to urge [Governor Newsom / Senator / Assemblymember ___] to support the new ACIP recommendation ending universal newborn Hepatitis B vaccination.

ACIP voted to give the Hep B vaccine at birth only when the mother is positive. Healthy newborns of Hep B-negative mothers are not at risk—and should not be injected with one of the most aluminum-heavy vaccines on the schedule just hours after birth.

Governor Newsom’s rejection of the new guidance is deeply troubling. California should not cling to outdated policies. 

Please align California policy with the new federal recommendation so that families can make informed, unhurried decisions. 

I also ask you to protect parental consent and ensure that no newborn is vaccinated without the parents’ clear approval.

Thank you.”

TALKING POINTS:

1. Healthy newborns are not at risk for Hepatitis B. Transmission in the U.S. overwhelmingly occurs through adult behaviors—not from healthy, Hep B-negative mothers to their infants.

2. The Hep B vaccine contains one of the highest aluminum loads of any shot on the childhood schedule.

3. Newborns have immature kidneys and a limited ability to clear injected aluminum, increasing the potential for accumulation in the brain and other organs.

4. ACIP’s change reflects scientific concerns about exposing newborns to unnecessary immune stimulation and high adjuvant doses.

5. Researchers studying aluminum neurotoxicity have warned that newborns are uniquely vulnerable to aluminum’s biological effects.

6. California should not impose a medical intervention that federal authorities have now revised due to safety, appropriateness, and risk.

7. Ignoring new evidence and forcing a universal birth-dose is not public health—it is outdated policy incompatible with informed consent.

8. Birth is not a medical emergency requiring immediate vaccination.

9. Pressuring parents at birth violates informed consent and undermines trust in healthcare.

10. Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and many other countries do not recommend hepatitis B at birth.

MORE INFORMATION

HHS confirmation of the new ACIP guidance:
 https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/acip-recommends-individual-based-decision-making-hepatitis-b-vaccine-birth-dose-infants-born-women-test-negative-virus.html

Governor Newsom is rejecting the ACIP recommendation:
 https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/12/05/newsom-blasts-cdc-panel-after-vote-to-end-universal-newborn-hepatitis-b-vaccinations/

Western Coast Health Alliance statement:
 https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/NR25-022.aspx

ACIP Meeting Materials:
 https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/

Scientific analysis of Hep B birth-dose and aluminum exposure:
 https://drchristopherexley.substack.com/p/hepb-vaccinationa-job-half-done

Article on dangers of aluminum in vaccines: https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/vaccinations/aluminum-in-vaccines-what-everyone-needs-to-know/#gsc.tab=0

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