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Just when you thought 2025 had run out of polarizing plot twists, the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns has re-entered the chat. This week, the long-standing practice of jabbing the freshest of cherubs with a cocktail designed to protect prostitutes and junkies will be discussed and voted on by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
On one side, we have mainstream media:
“Independent experts review more than 400 studies, find the U.S. policy of giving hep B at birth is a glowing triumph of modern medicine, please clap.”
On the other side, we have a Midwestern Doctor with a filing cabinet full of congressional testimony, damning case reports, and “what are we even thinking?” moments:
“We’ve been injecting this into every American newborn for decades, and somehow the chronic hepatitis B rate hasn’t budged. Also, hi, here’s the part of the story you were never told (spoiler: that shot’s been a disaster from the start).”


