RFK Jr. questions hepatitis B vaccine safety during Concord visit

During a visit to Concord, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expressed skepticism about the safety of the hepatitis B vaccine, according to nhpr.org.

Kennedy did not comment on New Hampshire state legislation inspired by his agency that rolled back hepatitis B vaccine requirements, according to nhpr.org.

In June 2025, Kennedy fired every member of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel of experts that creates national vaccine guidance, and subsequently replaced them with fellow vaccine skeptics. His new handpicked members ultimately rolled back the federal government’s guidance on the hepatitis B vaccine, among other immunizations. The panel voted in December 2025 to rescind the recommendation that infants receive the hepatitis B shot at birth unless the mother tested positive for the virus.

While the CDC's vaccine schedule is advisory, states enact vaccine requirements. New Hampshire aligned its laws with the updated CDC guidance, as explained by state Rep. Kelley Potenza.

Kennedy claimed there was no randomized placebo-controlled trial for the hepatitis B vaccine prior to licensure, but the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota noted a 1980 double-blind study published in the New England Journal of Medicine enrolled 1,083 subjects randomized to receive the vaccine or placebo.