LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — After a federal vaccine advisory panel voted to delay routine hepatitis B shots for most newborns, Michigan hospitals responded by saying the existing day-one schedule isn’t up for debate.

Five Michigan hospital systems—Corewell Health, Henry Ford Health, McLaren Health Care, Munson Healthcare, and University of Michigan Health—confirmed they will maintain their current practice of vaccinating newborns against hepatitis B within the first day of life, rejecting a recent federal recommendation to wait.

MORE NEWS: Nessel Pushes for Greater Judge Security While Backing ICE Agent Doxxing

Earlier this month, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 8–3 to revise decades-old guidance, limiting the birth dose to newborns whose mothers test positive for hepatitis B. For other infants, the panel recommended waiting until two months, arguing the change reduces unnecessary early intervention and aligns U.S. policy more closely with international standards.

Michigan health officials pushed back quickly. The Department of Health and Human Services issued a statement rejecting the recommendation, while hospital leaders cited consistency and alignment with medical associations as reasons to keep current practices in place.

“In my opinion, they’re already irrelevant,” Dr. Pamela Rockwell, a University of Michigan Medical School professor and co-chair of the university’s immunization committee, said of the CDC and its vaccine advisory panel.

“We have changed the language in all our documents … to take out any references to CDC guidelines,” Rockwell added.

While the recommendation has not yet been formally adopted by the CDC, the panel—reshaped under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—has emphasized parental choice, transparency, and renewed scrutiny of vaccine schedules.