‘In Massachusetts, we follow the science’: Healey promises to protect vaccine access ahead of CDC committee vote
Ben Pennington/for The Boston Globe
Governor Maura Healey and Public Health Commissioner Dr. Robbie Goldstein warned of misinformation about the childhood vaccine schedule, especially the infant hepatitis B vaccine, at a convening of doctors and public health officials Wednesday.
The forum took place one day before a pivotal meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, in Washington on Thursday. The group of vaccine advisers, hand-picked by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., are slated to discuss the pediatric vaccine schedule and vote on the recommendation to administer hepatitis B shots to newborns.
“We have real concerns and very little confidence that what they put out will be sound or based in science,” Healey said.
Healey promised continued action to keep the hepatitis B vaccine available, if needed. Vaccine manufacturers were present at the Wednesday event, Goldstein said, alongside physicians and public health experts.
Currently, the CDC recommends an initial dose of hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth for medically stable infants who weigh at least 4.4 pounds, a recommendation that has existed in some form since 1991. Follow-up doses are given at 1 month and 6 months. Between 1990 and 2019, hepatitis B infections dropped 99 percent in children and teens, according to a 2023 study in the official journal of the Office of the US Surgeon General.
“It’s proven, it’s effective, and we want to take care of our little babies,” she said. “That will remain true in Massachusetts no matter what ACIP does in the next couple of days.”
Hepatitis B, a liver infection, can lead to liver failure, liver cancer, and scarring called cirrhosis. The virus is spread between adults through sharing needles or sex, but it can also be passed from an infected mother to a baby.
Critics of the birth dose have raised concerns about giving a vaccine so early in life. But delaying the vaccine would not improve the safety of the shot and could leave infants vulnerable to maternal infection or hepatitis B exposure early in life, according to a report from the University of Minnesota’s Vaccine Integrity Project released Tuesday.
Goldstein called the newborn hepatitis B vaccine “one of the greatest public health interventions of our time.”
Healey’s administration has made previous efforts to counter the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape vaccine policy. In September, Massachusetts became the first state in the country to require insurers to cover the cost of COVID shots and other inoculations recommended by state health officials, regardless of guidance coming out of Washington. The Massachusetts’ Department of Public Health, under Commissioner Goldstein, has the authority to issue its own vaccine recommendations.
“In Massachusetts, we follow the science, the data, and we listen to our medical experts,” Healey said Wednesday.
Goldstein said that fighting vaccine misinformation has become 90 percent of his job.
“The truth we must face now is that the guidance emerging from the CDC at this moment, with this administration, does not reflect the best, most current science,” Goldstein said. “Protecting [the health of Massachusetts’ residents] sometimes requires difficult choices, including choosing not to follow federal guidance when that guidance falls short.”
Earlier this year, Kennedy fired the entire 17-member ACIP panel and replaced them with his picks, including vaccine skeptics. In September, the group put forward new restrictions on a combination shot that protects against chickenpox as well as measles, mumps and rubella, and declined to recommend COVID-19 vaccinations.
Since putting out state recommendations for the COVID vaccine in September, Goldstein said he has not seen retaliation from the Trump administration. But he vowed to continue issuing evidence-based recommendations because it’s the “right thing.”
ACIP is also expected to discuss the childhood immunization schedule more broadly, according to the meeting agenda, which Goldstein warned could further erode vaccine confidence.
“The childhood schedule is the backbone of prevention in pediatrics. It’s built on rigorous science and real world impact,” he said. “Altering it without the strongest scientific rationale carries enormous consequences for families and communities.”
Healey advised Massachusetts residents to continue talking with their pediatricians about childhood immunizations.
“Vaccines are safe and effective, and vaccines will continue to be available in Massachusetts, no matter what happens in D.C.,” Healey said.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Katie Muchnick can be reached at katie.muchnick@globe.com.
