Newborn hepatitis B vaccine under fire as RFK Jr. and GOP Senators question immunization

The hepatitis B vaccine has emerged as the latest flashpoint as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The hepatitis B vaccine has emerged as the latest flashpoint as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to cast doubt on the safety of vaccines.

The vaccine is routinely given to babies shortly after birth because hepatitis B — an incurable infection that can lead to liver disease, cancer and death — can be transmitted from mother to child during delivery.

At a Senate Finance Committee hearing with Kennedy on Thursday, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said that providing the hepatitis B vaccine to all newborns “makes no sense to me,” especially if the mother tests negative for the virus.

Marshall, an OB-GYN who said he’s delivered 5,000 babies, said he supports vaccinating the newborns of women who haven’t received prenatal care or who haven’t been tested for hepatitis B. But he questioned the need for universal vaccination.

He’s not the only Republican senator who’s been critical of the vaccine.