On December 16, 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC") adopted the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' ("ACIP's") recommendation for individual decision-making for parents, in consultation with a health care provider, to determine whether to give the hepatitis B birth dose to a child whose mother tested negative for the virus. In line with ACIP’s recommendation, the CDC also adopted the recommendation that, for those infants not receiving the birth dose as noted above, the hepatitis B vaccine should be delayed until a child is at least two months old. The CDC is updating the child immunization schedule and the applicable clinical guidance for hepatitis B vaccines to reflect and implement the new recommendations.

The CDC is still reviewing ACIP’s recommendation that, when evaluating the need for a subsequent hepatitis B vaccine dose in children, parents should consult with health care providers to decide whether to test antibody levels for hepatitis surface antigen to evaluate the adequacy of protection through serology results. As such, there is no change to the immunization schedule or clinical guidance on serology testing for hepatitis B vaccine dose in children at this time. 

For infants born to mothers who test positive for hepatitis B or whose status is unknown, the currently recommended birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine continues with no change. 

The CDC’s adoption of the new recommendations and updates to the child immunization schedule do not change the requirement for plans and issuers to cover without cost-sharing the hepatitis B birth dose to a child whose mother tested negative for the virus because there is the individual decision-making.

We are monitoring developments related to ACIP’s recommendation on serology testing for hepatitis B vaccine dose in children. If adopted by the CDC, the tests to measure antibody levels would also likely need to be covered without cost sharing beginning with the plan (or policy) year that is one year after the date the recommendation is adopted. See HHS press release: CDC Adopts Individual-Based Decision-Making for Hepatitis B Immunization for Infants Born to Women Who Test Negative for the Hepatitis B Virus | HHS.gov. Please reach out to your Groom attorney if you have any questions.