Hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination has substantially reduced HBV-related morbidity and mortality. Infants infected with HBV in the first year of life have a 90% risk of developing chronic infection, which is associated with chronic liver disease and liver cancer. World Health Organization (WHO) data show that birth-dose HBV vaccination rates in the US increased from approximately 21% in 2002 to 66% to 75% in 2019,2 trends mirrored in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Immunization Survey data. However, recent HBV vaccination rates remain unknown, representing a critical gap given increasing concerns about vaccine hesitancy.

Using large-scale electronic health records representing more than 300 million patient records from more than 1809 hospitals and 41,500 clinics as of September 2025 (Epic Cosmos database; Epic Systems Corp), this study by Rothman, et al. (2026) examined recent trends in newborn HBV vaccination. Hospitals with more than 10 births per year from all 50 states and the District of Columbia contributed data, and all infants born within these hospitals from January 1, 2017, to August 31, 2025, were included. Monthly HBV vaccination rates were calculated as doses administered within 30 days of birth divided by live births in the same month.

The authors examined changes in vaccination trends beginning in July 2023, selected as a reference point corresponding to a period of heightened public discourse and media coverage regarding childhood vaccination. This period included a widely circulated podcast episode in which current US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr discussed HBV vaccination. An autoregressive integrated moving average analysis was used to forecast HBV vaccination trends from July 2023 onward.

A total of 12,04,779 newborns were included in the analysis. Vaccination rates for HBV rose from 67.5% in January 2017 to a peak of 83.5% in February 2023, then declined to 73.2% by August 2025. After July 2023, HBV vaccination rates fell significantly below forecasted rates.

Reference: Rothman JM, et al. US Newborn Hepatitis B Virus Vaccination Rates. JAMA. February 23, 2026 doi: 10.1001/jama.2026.0866