Three important vaccine recommendations can be made for recital – and experts say they are likely to change under the Trump administration.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP), which is responsible for creating national vaccination guidelines for children and adults, is planned to meet in Atlanta on 18 and 19 September.
The panel is likely to vote on the fact that it must maintain or change the guidance for four vaccines: hepatitis B, COVID-19, MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) and varicella (the virus that can cause chicken pox and shingles), According to the most recent CDC agenda. These viruses can have serious health implications for pregnant people, fetuses and newborn babies.
Rewire News Group Spoke with two doctors about what could happen when the vaccine panel meets, and how potential changes in vaccine recommendations can affect the health of millions of reproductive age in the US
Hepatitis B can be transferred during birth
Discussion of the hepatitis B -vaccine is planned to focus About the newborn dose of the medicine, which is given to infants shortly after birth. Hepatitis B is transmitted by blood and sexual liquidsAnd can spread from a pregnant person to their baby both in the womb and during delivery. If untreated, the inflammation caused by chronic hepatitis B infection Can lead to scars from the liver That ensures that the organ fails.
The CDC currently recommends a first dose of the Hepatitis B vaccine at birth, a second dose between one and two months old and a last dose between 6-18 months old. Inoculation immediately after birth “maximizes the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing newborn infection,” according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (MONKEY).
People who are infected at birth with chronic hepatitis B who have never received treatment, with a lifelong risk of 25 percent on the development of liver cancer, According to the Hepatitis B Foundation. Those who are infected with hepatitis B stand for an annual risk of liver cancer of 4 percent, depending on whether they have cirrhosis.
Before 1991, when the US launched a vaccination program that was designed to eradicate hepatitis B infections that were acquired during pregnancy and the birth, around 18,000 to -20,000 babies were diagnosed every year, Dr. James Campbell, the vice chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Infectious Diseases. Today there are only 20 to 30.
Most hepatitis B infections can be linked to a specific risk factor, such as intravenous drug use, sex with an infected person or being born in a B-positive individual with a hepatitis. But until a third cannot be, Campbell said.
“We don’t know where everyone gets it,” Campbell added. “All babies give the vaccine protects them against both known and unknown risks to get hepatitis B.”
Covid-19 can be dangerous during pregnancy
COVID-19 can have mild symptoms that mimic the cold or flu or pneumonia, organ failure and even cause death. COVID-19 During pregnancy increases the risk of serious illness and death, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), The leading professional organization for our OB-Gyns. COVID-19 During pregnancy is also linked to miscarriage” stillbirth and other pregnancy complications.
Acog started Recommendation of the COVID-19 vaccine for Most pregnant people In 2021 it became available on a large scale in the same year. Vaccination reduces the risk of serious illness and pregnancy complications, and some protection against the virus is passed on to newborns. Babies are only eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine 6 months old.
Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association said: “Women of reproductive age … certainly run the risk of Covid and in my opinion should be vaccinated.”
Measles, mumps, rubella and varicella
ACIP is also expected to discuss the MMR and Varicella vaccines, which are available in two separate recordings or in a single, combined recording. One vaccine expert told Politics That he is worried that the panel could make the decision about which shot he would use to take away from parents and care providers.
If contracted, these viruses can cause Result, fever and swelling. Although rare, they can cause serious complications and death – sometimes years after Recover from the virus.
Was a measles declared in the US in 2000. But a recent outbreak of measles in Texas that has infected more than 700 people since January 2025 led to around 100 hospital admissions; Two children died. It is assumed that falling vaccination rates have played a role in the outbreak.
The CDC Currently orders Children receive two doses of MMR and Varicella -vaccines – one between the ages of 12 and 15 months and a second between 4 and 6 years old.
Changes will have consequences, proponents warn
The ACIP meeting comes in the midst of a deliberate dismantling of the public health infrastructure of the country under the Trump government. Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Has long vaccinations with anti-vaccination that do not merge with available scientific evidence.
Kennedy fired everything in June 2025 17 existing ACIP -MEMBERS With reference to ‘persistent conflicts of interest’. He has since been selected 12 new people to sit on the panel -many of whom have shown skepticism or other scientific views of the edge. The panel has already indicated an interest to promote its earlier vaccine recommendations and schedules, especially for children.
Experts and lawyers warn that the chaos, confusion and disinformation surrounding the recommendations of vaccine under the leadership of Kennedy further undermine the trust of the public in vaccines. A recently Washington Post/KFF -Surface Discovered that more than 15 percent of parents have delayed or skipped to get their child a recommended youth vaccine.
Changing regulations can also make it more difficult for patients who still want or need protection against these diseases to be inoculated.
The recommendations for COVID-19Gaccins, both for pregnant people and young children, have been in Flux for months. In May 2025Kennedy inverted guidelines abruptly, which states that the CDC would no longer recommend the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy pregnant people.
What experts say
The Washington Post reported On 12 September, Trump health officials are planning to link the COVID-19 vaccine to the death of 25 children during the upcoming ACIP meeting.
Leading health organizations stick to their guidance: Acog confirmed in August 2025 Recommendation that pregnant and launching people receive the COVID-19 vaccine And boosters.
“The entire body of data clearly shows that the COVID-19Gaccins are not only completely safe for use during pregnancy, but also protective, both during pregnancy and after the child is born,” Dr. Mark Turrentine, an OB-Gyn who helped the author’s guidance ACOG, said in a statement.
A former CDC officer at a high level he told NPR Expect the panel to postpone the first dose of the hepatitis B. vaccine.
“We are very close to eliminating perinatal hepatitis B,” Campbell said RNG. “It will be a step back if we decide to undo everything that has been done over the years without reason.”
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