NH House follows RFK Jr., approves ending hepatitis B requirement

The state House voted, 186-168, Feb. 12 to remove hepatitis B from the list of required vaccines in New Hampshire.

Rep. Kelley Potenza, a Rochester Republican and sponsor of House Bill 1719, framed it as an effort to align with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which under new Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has moved in a controversial direction on vaccines.

In December, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to change the federal government’s guidance to not recommend the hepatitis B vaccine at birth for infants unless the mother tested positive for the virus. The decision came months after Kennedy fired every member of the panel and replaced many of them with fellow vaccine skeptics and was condemned by dozens of major medical organizations.

Potenza has in the past argued that aluminum ingredients in the vaccines cause myriad health complications. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the CDC have all previously reported that aluminum is included in vaccines in doses too small to be toxic.

Supporters say the bill targets government overreach

“What (HB 1719) does is make the hep B vaccination a real choice,” Rep. Matt Drew, a Manchester Republican and co-sponsor of the bill, said on the House floor. “Not a government mandate with the force of the state behind it and the lurking threat of being banned from your day care or school if you refuse.”

State law allows for exemptions on religious and medical grounds, though Drew argued these were insufficient.

Democrats say bill harms public health

The bill was passed over Democrats’ opposition, who decried the bill’s potential effects on public health.

Rep. William Palmer, a Cornish Democrat, noted that since the universal hepatitis B vaccine was introduced in 1991, “there’s been a 99% drop in infant infections.” After 1 billion doses administered around the world, he said, it has proven to be “one of the safest and most effective of all vaccines.” Indeed, from 1993 to 2019, there was a 99% drop in infections among children and adolescents, according to a letter from the American Public Health Association and a coalition of health professionals.

“The peer-reviewed data around the world supports this impressive safety profile,” Palmer said. “And we should not be misled by reports that have not been subjected to such vigorous review.”

This bill will be considered by the House Finance Committee before it heads to the Senate.

Vaccine religious exemption bill passes, too

In a 197-163 vote, the House also approved another vaccine related bill, House Bill 1584. The bill would allow parents to receive religious exemptions from vaccines simply by providing any written statement attesting to the religious exemption as opposed to filling out a specific form created by the Department of Health and Human Services, as is the process now.

Additionally, the bill would require that any time the Department of Health and Human Services promotes vaccines, it must write that “medical and religious exemptions are available under New Hampshire law” in “bold, clearly noticeable, starred print on the front or top portion of the material.”

The original version of the bill imposed a fine of up to $1,000 on any department employee or officer who violates this requirement, but the bill was amended before it passed to allow department management to handle disciplinary action.