Saturday, December 6, 2025

Pasadena Congresswoman Blasts CDC Panel Vote to End Universal Hepatitis B Vaccine for Newborns

Rep. Judy Chu, who represents Pasadena and surrounding communities in Congress, sharply criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices after it voted 8-3 to eliminate the long-standing universal recommendation that all newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.

“Doctors, public health officials, and the scientific community agree that the Hepatitis B vaccine is safe, effective, and essential to protecting infants from a virus that can silently lead to lifelong liver disease, cirrhosis, and cancer,” Chu said in a statement released from Washington, D.C. “Changing this policy is reckless and dangerous. It will make America sicker.”

Chu, a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee and Chair Emerita of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, warned the decision would disproportionately affect Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

“This decision will also disproportionally impact the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community who make up only 7% of the U.S. population, yet account for 60% of chronic hepatitis B cases. In fact, approximately 1 in 12 Asian Americans lives with this infection, often unknowingly, which is why universal newborn vaccination has been one of the most important health protections for our community,” she said.

“Abandoning this standard will reverse decades of progress and widen racial health disparities that we have spent generations trying to close,” Chu continued. “The science is clear, the medical consensus is overwhelming, and the stakes for families could not be higher.”

“I strongly urge Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill to reject these irresponsible recommendations and maintain the evidence-based universal standard to protect the health and well-being of all Americans,” Chu said.