00:00Doctors and public health professionals are eyeing a key CDC meeting this week,
00:05one that can shape vaccine recommendations for the first time in decades.
00:10The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, made up of 12 medical advisors,
00:16will decide whether newborns should receive hepatitis B vaccines at birth.
00:20This vote could reverse a policy that has been in place since 1991.
00:24The two-day meeting Thursday and Friday will also take a look at measles,
00:29chicken pox, and COVID-19 vaccines.
00:31Four Democratic-led states and their governors, California, Oregon, Hawaii, and Washington,
00:36have already released their own vaccine guidance,
00:39accusing the Trump administration of politicizing public health.
00:43The West Coast Health Alliance is encouraging people to stay up to date on COVID-19, flu, and RSV vaccines.
00:50Infants, older adults, pregnant women, and those in close settings are particularly at risk.
00:55HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon criticized the state recommendation, saying past policies during the COVID-19 era
01:02undermined trust in public health agencies.
01:05He stressed that future policy will be driven by science and evidence, not politics.
01:09How did Dr. Minares go from being a public health expert with unimpeachable scientific credentials,
01:16who had the full confidence of Secretary Kennedy, into being a liar and untrustworthy in less than a month?
01:24Ousted CDC Director Susan Minares testified Wednesday that she was pressured to approve changes to childhood vaccine recommendations without scientific evidence.
01:34I responded that I could not pre-approve recommendations without reviewing the evidence,
01:40and I had no basis to fire scientific experts.
01:45He told me he had already spoken with the White House several times about having me removed.
01:51Senator Bill Cassidy, a hepatologist and chair of the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee,
01:57said the firing could deepen mistrust in the CDC.
02:00He stressed that clear guidance is critical for protecting children and adults alike.
02:06Cassidy said the hepatitis B vaccine is credited with saving lives.
02:10Before 1991, as many as 20,000 babies, babies, were infected with hepatitis B in the United States of America.
02:19And that changed when the hepatitis B vaccine was approved for newborns.
02:23Cassidy says today fewer than 20 babies a year contract the disease.
02:27He emphasized the vaccine is optional, with mothers able to accept or decline.
02:33Read more right now on the Straight Arrow News mobile app or visit san.com.
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