Statement on Changes in Hepatitis B Vaccination Recommendation for Newborns

ACEP joined leading physician and patient advocacy groups in opposing recommendations made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) regarding hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination for newborns in the United States.

The joint statement signed by ACEP and more than 40 medical groups reaffirmed the vital role of vaccines in public health:

“ACIP’s decision to downgrade the long-standing recommendation to vaccinate all newborns against hepatitis B at birth will lead to more childhood hepatitis B infections, will lead to more chronic infections that will follow patients into adulthood, and will complicate vaccine access for children. No new data [were] presented during the ACIP meeting to justify this change. The evidence remains clear: the hepatitis B birth dose is safe and an essential component in helping children develop immunity against a serious, potentially lifelong disease.”

The joint statement aligns with ACEP’s continued efforts to support evidence-based medicine and the importance of vaccines in public health.

In another recent statement, ACEP stood firmly behind the science, stating that decades of high-quality research show no link between vaccines and autism. ACEP also reaffirmed its strong support for the use of evidence-based vaccine schedules as an essential component of the emergency care safety net.

ACEP-Endorsed SUPPORT Act Is Reauthorized

The bipartisan Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025 has been signed into law.

This ACEP-informed and -supported legislation renews and strengthens a range of critical federal programs designed to address the intersecting mental health, opioid/substance use disorder (OUD/SUD), and overdose crises affecting millions of patients and their families.

Emergency physicians see the toll that opioid and substance use disorder takes on our patients, their families, and our communities.

Ongoing efforts, many of which are made possible by the SUPPORT Act, are vital to the fight against the OUD/SUD epidemic and overdose crisis.

The reauthorization takes a narrower, more streamlined approach than the original SUPPORT Act that first passed in 2018. That law included several ACEP-led priorities, including the Alternatives to Opioids (ALTO) in the Emergency Department Act as a demonstration program to equip emergency physicians with the tools they need to help fight the opioid epidemic.

ACEP’s successful advocacy ensured that ALTO was later reauthorized independently as a permanent program and received a boost in federal funding.

The reauthorized SUPPORT Act will improve access to evidence-based treatment and recovery programs, continue federal investment in overdose prevention and community-based recovery initiatives, preserve telehealth flexibilities for prescribing OUD/SUD medications, and enhance national data collection related to substance use and mental health services.

ACEP strongly applauds this reauthorization and recognizes that there’s still much more to be done. We are proud to make sure that policymakers hear directly from you so that they can factor your expertise into policy solutions that save lives in the communities where you live and work.