A health expert Friday warned that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has made a dangerous error after dropping its recommendation that newborns get the hepatitis B vaccine.
Former CDC director Tom Frieden criticized the body, and told CNN that he was hopeful that health leaders, including pediatricians, OBGYNs, nurses and other specialists, will continue to administer that vaccine — which has been part of the universal recommendation for children's vaccine schedule. He urged that experts "ignore what this hand-picked, unscientific group of people" have done.
"This is a big mistake that would endanger American children. Don't mess with success," Frieden said. "The universal recommendation, since it's been applied, has not resulted in any significant harm to children."
A CDC panel and agency led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Friday it would end its recommendation for the vaccine, which started in the early 1990s.
"It has prevented thousands, maybe millions of children from being infected," Frieden added. "And let me be very clear, hepatitis B is a serious infection. And it's not only spread from the mother. That's why universal birth dose is the standard of care."
The CDC has planned to further discuss the vaccine schedule as a whole.
"This is basically infusing fiction-based rather than fact-based recommendations into the protection of our children... And what I hope will happen is that insurers, states, cities, obstetricians, pediatricians will look at this and say there is no scientific credibility to this recommendation. It's a violation of all of the basic principles of effective protection. Every vaccine is given with informed consent," Frieden said.