By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org

New Hampshire parents will still be able to get their newborns life-saving vaccines against hepatitis B despite U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to curb the practice, according to a memo the New Hampshire Health Alert sent to medical providers Friday.

The Alert, part of the NH Department of Health and Human Services, wasn’t sent to the general public reiterating the medical value of the hepatitis B vaccine as the state continues to recommend the shots despite federal changes.

Last week, the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to stop recommending the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who made millions for his anti-vaccine advocacy, replaced the public health officials on the ACIP this summer with people who share his discredited theories.

When asked about the Alert to medical providers Friday, Maddie Miller, Public Health Public Information Officer, responded Monday: “Please see the statement below, attributed to State Epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan. 

“The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is aware of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) vote to no longer universally recommend the hepatitis B vaccine for all infants and children. DHHS and leading expert medical organizations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians, continue to recommend hepatitis B vaccination for all children, with the first dose given within 24 hours after birth, as the best way to protect kids against hepatitis B and the lifelong health problems it can cause.

“The Department will continue to monitor the impacts of the ACIP decision to ensure New Hampshire families that want the hepatitis B vaccine have access to it. DHHS encourages anyone with questions about any vaccine to speak to a trusted healthcare provider.”

When asked why the public wasn’t told, she didn’t immediately respond.

Hepatitis B is an incurable disease that can result in liver cancer, cirrhosis, and early death. About half the people with hepatitis B do not know they have it, and the disease is passed on by coming into contact with fluids like blood, saliva. The virus can live on a surface for up to a week, and unvaccinated children who come into contact with that surface can then be infected.

Children are susceptible to contracting the disease playing sports, in daycare settings, or from a parent who has an undiagnosed case. About 25 percent of children who contract the disease will die from it. Before infant vaccinations became common 30 years ago, there were 18,000 children infected every year.

Half of the childhood cases are the result of mother-to-child transmission, but that transmission can be stopped by giving the vaccine to newborns.

“If you have a cut, that blood could potentially get on the infant,” Anita Patel, a  pediatrician and pediatric critical care physician in Washington, D.C. told the Associated Press. “And if that infant has any sort of break in their skin — as infants, frankly, frequently do — they can then get hepatitis B.”

Kennedy “retired” the 17 medical and technical experts on the ACIP soon after he took office. The new members, announced in June, include Vicky Pebsworth, a regional director for the National Association of Catholic Nurses. She has been listed as a board member and volunteer director for the National Vaccine Information Center, a group that is widely considered to be a leading source of vaccine misinformation, according to the AP.

Another new ACIP member is Dr. Robert Malone, a former mRNA researcher who trades in conspiracy theories about the COVID pandemic, and who supports so-called alternative treatments for COVID and measles. Malone has stated people were hypnotized into taking the COVID-19 shots and he’s suggested that those vaccines cause a form of AIDS, according to the AP.

Kennedy was paid $20,000 a week for chairing the Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit that raises millions to support lawsuits against vaccine makers. According to Reuters, CHD brought 30 federal and state lawsuits since 2020, many challenging vaccines and public health mandates. Kennedy also earned millions as a consultant for law firms bringing those lawsuits, according to Politifact.

“Health Alert Network messages are sent through New Hampshire’s primary communication alerting system which rapidly pushes out health alerts via telephone, text message, fax, e-mail and pager. Participants include physicians, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, hospital emergency departments, local health departments, local public health responders, public health volunteers, health officers, etc.,” according to the network’s website.

“Enrollment in the NH-HAN is open to individuals who meet at least one of the following criteria:

• The recipient has a legal obligation to respond to a public health incident.
• A public health incident is occurring in the recipient’s jurisdictional area.
• The recipient’s participation is essential for completing a public health intervention.