Get Your Baby The Hepatitis B Shot: Rhode Island Department Of Health

The Rhode Island Department of Health "firmly" recommends that all newborns receive a hepatitis B vaccine birth dose within 24 hours of delivery.

RIDOH recommends that babies get the shot "regardless of the hepatitis B infection status of the birth parent, and that all children complete the full vaccination series within 18 months," according to a media release.

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RIDOH also makes the recommendation despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voting to recommend individual-based decision-making for parents for the hepatitis B vaccine, including the birth dose, to infants born to women who test negative for the virus. For infants not receiving the birth dose, ACIP suggested in its recommendation that the initial dose be administered no earlier than 2 months of age.

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"This change will put infants at higher risk for severe disease," the release said. "The hepatitis B vaccine birth dose and completion of the hepatitis B vaccine series in the first 18 months of life protect infants and children during a vulnerable time of their lives. No new data were presented on the safety or effectiveness of the hepatitis B vaccine to justify this recommendation change by the ACIP."

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Dr. Jerry Larkin, Rhode Island's director of health, touted the importance of the vaccine birth dose.

"The hepatitis B vaccine birth dose helps prevent a lifelong, potentially fatal, chronic infection, which can lead to serious liver disease and liver cancer later in life," Larkin said in the release.

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"The hepatitis B vaccine has been tested extensively for safety, and we know that it works," Larkin said. "Since 1991, when we started recommending it for all newborns, infections with hepatitis B virus in children and teens have decreased by 99%. No matter what is happening at the federal level, in Rhode Island, vaccine policy will continue to be grounded in science, data, and facts."

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