Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine panel plans to re-evaluate the mandate.

The current recommendation states that newborns should be vaccinated against hepatitis B within the first 24 hours of birth. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, has delayed voting on updated guidelines due to the controversy.

The vaccine panel voted to recommend testing for hepatitis B in pregnant women as the disease can be transferred from mother to baby. Pharmaceutical company Merck, who recently moved a multi-million dollar facility from the UK to the US, insists the vaccine is safe and effective at birth. Yet, there are no concrete studies to show whether or not the risks outweigh the benefits.

This disease is not airborne nor can be passed through coughing, sneezing, or close contact. There must be an exchange of bodily fluid, and the primary infector here would be the mother (vertical transmission). If the disease cannot be spread through anything other than bodily fluid, why is the medical community insistent on a mandate? Parents should have the ability to chose the best course of action for their baby's health.