Cassidy says he's "very concerned" about possible hepatitis B vaccine schedule change

Washington — Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who chairs the Senate Committee connected Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said he's "very concerned" astir a imaginable alteration to the hepatitis B vaccine docket for infants, with a cardinal advisory sheet acceptable to conscionable successful the coming weeks.

"I'm a doctor. I person seen radical dice from vaccine-preventable disease," Cassidy told "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." "I privation to marque America healthy, and you don't commencement by stopping recommendations that person made america substantially healthier."

Cassidy, a doc whose aesculapian signifier focused connected hepatitis B, noted that due to the fact that of the recommended hepatitis B vaccine dose astatine birth, "we person decreased incidence of chronic hepatitis B by 20,000 radical implicit the past 2 decades."

"The vaccine is safe. It has been established," Cassidy said. "This is argumentation by radical who don't recognize the epidemiology of hepatitis B, oregon who person grown comfy with the information that we've been truthful palmy with our proposal that present the incidence of hepatitis B is truthful low, they consciousness similar we tin remainder connected our laurels." 

The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, a sheet of experts who counsel and ballot connected the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine recommendations, is acceptable to conscionable adjacent month. The draught agenda for the Dec. 4-5 gathering includes discussions of the hepatitis B vaccine, and the gathering could entail votes connected recommendations. In September, the sheet voted to array a ballot connected whether to alteration the pediatric vaccine docket for hepatitis B to a aboriginal date. 

Cassidy has antecedently weighed successful connected the panel. In June, the Louisiana Republican called for a postponement of the vaccine gathering aft Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said helium was "retiring" each 17 members of the panel, earlier replacing the committee members with his ain picks. And successful August, Cassidy likewise called for the sheet to postpone its September vaccine advisory committee gathering amid a slew of departures from the CDC.

The moves represented breaks with Kennedy, who was confirmed arsenic the nation's apical wellness authoritative lone aft winning enactment from Cassidy. 

In February, Cassidy delivered the cardinal ballot to beforehand the information retired of committee aft helium had expressed misgivings implicit Kennedy's information due to the fact that of the doubts helium had raised astir vaccines. But Cassidy yet supported Kennedy's nomination, citing "serious commitments" helium said he'd received from the administration. 

Asked by Brennan whether helium regrets his ballot to corroborate Kennedy, Cassidy said "every newsman asks maine that."

"You unrecorded beingness forward," Cassidy added. "Let the day's ain troubles beryllium capable for the day. And I'll recognition the secretary. He's brought attraction to things similar ultra-processed nutrient that has, frankly, ne'er received this benignant of attraction before, and radical praise him for that. So helium and I person publically disagreed connected immoderate matters, but I powerfully hold with him connected others, and so, truthful that's however I'll reply your question."