Stand Up for Science!

Bad framing: ACIP voted to scrap the universal hepatitis B vaccine recommendation for newborns.

Accurate framing: Anti-vax conspiracy theorists appointed to ACIP by Robert Kennedy Jr., who made a fortune as an anti-vax profiteer, voted to expose babies to a preventable, incurable, deadly illness.

This afternoon, I was in a meeting with Jay Bhattacharya, and I can confirm this is *exactly* what he both wants and will be doing.

THIS IS NOT HYPERBOLE.

RFK Jr. and his anti-vax ACIP are responsible for doing harm to generations of Americans living in the shadow of his anti-science leadership, and Hep. B is just the tip of the iceberg

It's time for Congress to impeach and remove RFK Jr. No ifs, no buts. Enough is enough. #ImpeachtheQuack

@standupforscience.bsky.social 🔭 is fighting for our health and safety by taking anti-science bs head on

laborofchange.org
🏗️ is a love letter to its community, leveraging education and labor power to build a democracy that actually represents us

every day is a great day to impeach the quack😊 #impeachrfkjr #impeachthequack

If you care, Kennedy, you publicly call on the House to bring up articles of impeachment against RFK today.

No "thought and prayers," no hand-wringing.

Either call for his impeachment, or just be quiet. You have strong influence to stop this. Anything else is just performative nonsense.

RFK Jr.’s CDC panel: No more hepatitis B vaccine for some newborns The CDC's vaccine advisory panel, stocked with anti-vaccine activists and loyalists to RFK Jr., voted Friday to stop recommending a birth dose of vaccine.

Kennedy's zombie ACIP panel just voted to restrict hepatitis B vaccine for newborns. Experts say it will harm children for no reason. www.ms.now/news/rfk-cdc...

ACIP member Dr. Cody Meissner:

"'Do no harm' is a moral imperative. We are doing harm by changing this wording. And I vote no."

ACIP votes to abandon universal hepatitis B vaccination for newborns Vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are meeting today on what could be a major change to the childhood vaccination schedule. Follow here for live updates.

ACIP votes to end universal HBV birth dose for newborns. The consequence? Prepare to see a reversal of our rates of chronic liver disease and liver cancer as more children are left unprotected.

The birth dose has an up to 90% efficacy rate of protecting newborns from Hep B, which is incurable.

From the “first consolidated World Health Organization report on viral hepatitis epidemiology, service coverage and product access,” “Globally, 115 countries have introduced universal hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination, and 45% of infants received the hepatitis B birth dose within the first 24 hours of birth in 2022. Twenty-three countries have selective programmes with targeted provision of the hepatitis B birth dose (the vaccine is provided to the infants of mothers who are HBsAg positive). Infant immunization schedules in 190 countries include the hepatitis B vaccine. Of the 38 WHO focus countries for the viral hepatitis response, 25 have introduced birth-dose programmes and all provide the hepatitis B vaccine (usually as part of pentavalent vaccines) in their infant vaccination programme. In theory, if these vaccines are included in the national programme, all children should have access; however, in practice, coverage varies widely across regions and countries (Table 3.23 and Fig. 3.32). Chapter 4 presents detailed information for the 38 WHO focus countries for viral hepatitis.” https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240091672

Did you know?

190 countries have infant immunization schedules that include the Hep B vaccine

115 countries recommend a universal birth-dose of the Hep B vaccine, one of the key actions WHO recommends to reduce Hep B prevalence

Read more in the WHO Hep B Report ➡️
iris.who.int/server/api/c...

Americans’ Largely Positive Views of Childhood Vaccines Hold Steady About nine-in-ten (88%) Americans say, overall, the benefits of childhood vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella outweigh the risks, identical to the share who said this before the coronavirus outbre...

This study covers vaccinations in general, and yes, there exists greater skepticism of the Covid vaccine. But skepticism of the Covid vaccine =/= skepticism of ALL vaccines, including a lot of the childhood vaccines that ACIP is currently trying to tear down.
www.pewresearch.org/science/2023...

Overall trust in scientists and medical professionals is still rather high (Pew 2024). And only about 7% of American/Canadian respondents in a study (Gravelle 2022) are stridently anti-vax.

MAHA is platforming views of a very small minority, to erode the majority.

We must never forget: it wasn’t just the kooky Great Barrington Declaration dudes who promoted RFK Jr & his anti-vaxx BS—it was also some magazines, like The New Yorker, which celebrated him as a “maverick” who would take on “the establishment”

RFK Jr’s hype men will have dead kids as their legacy

It came from the heart.

Image of Scarlett Johansson from "Marriage Story" staring blankly into the middle distance with tears in her eyes.

Watching our vaccine infrastructure slowly dismantled by hacks and quacks on a youtube livestream in the big year 2025.

Aluminum is Crucial to Vaccines—and Safe. Why are CDC advisers Debating It? RFK Jr’s vaccine advisory panel will be discussing the inclusion of adjuvants in childhood vaccinations today. Here’s what’s at stake

And in the afternoon, discussion on Aluminum Adjuvants in vaccines — AKA, aluminum salts, in quantities smaller than a baby would get from even human breastmilk. A small explainer from reputable scientists: www.scientificamerican.com/article/alum...

Tweet from Sen. Bill Cassidy: Aaron Siri is a trial attorney who makes his living suing vaccine manufacturers. He is presenting as if an expert on childhood vaccines. The ACIP is totally discredited. They are not protecting children.

Day 2 of ACIP today! On the agenda: vote on the future of the HBV schedule/universal dose, & comparison of our vaccine schedule with other nations* (w/ universal healthcare systems, keep in mind)

And a presentation by anti-vaxxer Aaron Siri, recently the target of criticism by Sen Cassidy (R-LA)

The ACIP meeting began 20 minutes before schedule today; at least one adviser attending virtually (Cody Meissner, seen as the most experienced member and one of the sharpest critics yesterday) was not present at role call

‘Never seen anything like this’: alarm at memo from top US vaccine official Vinay Prasad memo said at least 10 children had died from Covid vaccination – but offered scant evidence for claim

America’s top vaccines official promised, in a long and argumentative memo to staff, to revamp vaccine regulation after claiming 10 children died from Covid vaccines. But Vinay Prasad offered no evidence for that allegation and scant details on the new approach.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

What's so crazy about this is RFK Jr/MAHA acting like we have universal healthcare.

WE CAN'T AFFORD THIS SHIT! Our healthcare system is not equipped to deal with MORE disease. The public is not equipped to pay out of pocket for MORE disease.

We need every ounce of prevention we can get.

Picture of Spongebob and Patrick ballin' out (dunking a basketball on court and celebrating)

POV: watching ACIP's antivaxxer presenters getting called out by scientists and doctors.

"I urge this committee that you do your job appropriately so that we can take care of our patients, and not political theater, which is what this has become. (...) please have respect for the American public."

Follow up evidence from presenters: VICP claims and the amounts that have been disbursed for complaints — not a high standard of scientific evidence.

Interjection from Dr. Meissner: "Robert, I was chair of the VICP for 2 years, and I can absolutely tell you these are not confirmed associations."

Q: "Is there any solid and reproducible evidence of harm (of giving an HBV birth dose)?"

A: "Sure, there was concern in the Linder study about fever in infants after the birth dose. There is limited evidence about the long-term risk."

Q: "So speculation and limited evidence. Okay. Got it."

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

And again, if there are any questions on efficacy. A 2023 study by the Surgeon General found there was a 99% decline in reported cases of acute hepatitis B among children, adolescents and young adults from 1990-2019 as a direct result of infant immunization.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

And beyond this — it is unethical on so many levels to run randomized placebo-controlled trials in infants. No child in a vaccine trial should be left unprotected and exposed to incurable disease when there is an effective therapeutic vaccine.

"This disease has gone down in the US thanks to the effectiveness of our current immunization program," says Dr. Cody Meissner.

"... In your opinion?" ACIP's Dr. Robert Malone.

"Hah, well, okay, these are facts, Robert..."

🙈 #ACIP

Controversial ‘cost of autism’ paper retracted The journal’s decision comes two years after Spectrum covered backlash from researchers over the study.

#ACIP Let's talk about the presenters we've had so far:

Dr. Cynthia Nevison, a climate researcher, and Mr. Mark Blaxill (Harvard MBA, no scientific or medical expertise) are both known for authoring a retracted paper on the "costs of autism." Blaxill holds and Nevison has ties to anti-vax beliefs

Call us crazy scientists, but we're in favor of keeping kids alive with a completely unrelated 3% chance of being autistic than skipping vaccines and saddling kids with a 20% chance of being dead.

"Hepatitis B is a virus that affects the liver and is the leading cause of liver cancer worldwide. People living with chronic hepatitis B have a higher risk of developing liver cancer."

And the Hep B vaccine has been KEY to virtually eliminating cases of this incurable disease in newborns.

Doctors warn delaying hepatitis B shot for newborns could revive a deadly threat As RFK Jr.'s new vaccine panel ponders changing the hepatitis B vaccination schedule, some doctors recall past patients, including children, who died painful deaths before there was a vaccine.

Today is the start of 2 days of meetings of RFK Jr.'s ACIP, where vaccines skeptics outnumber actual scientists and medial experts. Their target: the Hep B vaccine, which has a ~90-98% (after 3 doses) effectiveness rate in preventing infection for up to 30 yrs.

www.npr.org/sections/sho...

In a deeply red Congressional District of Tennessee, Pro-Science candidate Aftyn Behn overperformed. This is HUGE for Science.

Stand up for Science Statement: “The Tennessee special election results are a reminder that science is political, and that the American public and Stand Up for Science are ready to hold accountable legislators, candidates, and others pushing the anti-science agenda. “We were proud to mobilize our science activists and volunteers in support of Aftyn Behn, who spoke at the Nashville Stand Up for Science rally in March, and stood up against the effort to dismantle public health and evidence-based science. As we look ahead to 2026, we are ready to scale up our efforts and make the anti-science agenda a key issue for midterm races throughout the nation.” Colette Delawalla Founder and CEO

Stand Up for Science statement on the results of the Tennessee special election. This is a reminder that science is political. Going into 2026, SUfS will be holding anti-science legislators, candidates, and officials accountable to the American people.

Be a part of it! standupforscience.net