The Anti-Vaccine Argument Against the Hepatitis B Vaccine
The Real Truth About Vaccines
When you see the anti-vaccine argument against the hepatitis B vaccine, the first thing you will likely think is that “there’s no way this can be it?!?”
After all, the hepatitis B vaccine was first approved in 1986, has been safely given to BILLIONS of children, and has been found to be safe in hundreds of post-marketing safety studies, and yet, the cornerstone of the evidence of anti-vaccine influencers against the vaccine is still just misinformation about the package insert?
The Anti-Vaccine Argument Against the Hepatitis B Vaccine
Wait, there’s no way this can be it?!?
The idea that there was no control group, only five days of safety monitoring, and the initial clinical trial studied 147 infants?
But yes, that’s all there is…
And what is most tragic, all of these ‘issues’ have been thoroughly answered a thousand times already.
Again though, know that the first recombinant hepatitis B vaccine, when it was first approved:
was studied in at least 717 children and adults in at least six different studies
each study was at least six months long, so it is extremely misleading to say that there was only five days of safety monitoring.
a review had been published, summarizing the studies with 1144 healthy adults and 79 children at the time it was approved
What else are anti-vaccine influencers not telling you?
That the hepatitis B vaccine, approved in 1986, Recombivax HB, and which we still use today, was a new and improved version of the previous hepatitis B vaccine.
And this new and improved hepatitis vaccine was replacing an older plasma derived hepatitis B vaccine, which would have made it highly unethical to use a saline placebo in the clinical trials!
That hepatitis B vaccine, Heptavax-B, was approved in 1981, with at least 2,200 participants in randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled clinical trials supporting its approval.
“In the three years between June 1, 1982 and May 31, 1985, an estimated 850,000 persons received the vaccine.”
Postmarketing Surveillance for Neurologic Adverse Events Reported After Hepatitis B Vaccination: Experience of the First Three Years
And it had been safely used by nearly 1 million children and adults over the next few years.
“Clinical studies with Engerix-B were initiated in February 1984. Through July 1, 1988, over 10,000 persons had participated in 87 studies (see Table 1). In addition to safety and imnunogenicity studies, protective efficacy was assessed in certain high-risk populations such as neonates born to mothers who were carriers of HBV with HBsAg in the blood.”
Energix-B Summary for Basis of Approval
The approval of Recombivax HB was followed a few years later, in 1989, by the approval of the well studied Energix-B vaccine.
Are you starting to understand why anti-vaccine influencers aren’t telling you all of this extra information, as they continue to focus on their ‘five days of clinical monitoring shtick?
Also, in addition to the clinical trials used for the approval of the first hepatitis B vaccines, there have been:
dozens of post-licensure hepatitis B vaccine studies, including many that have studied newborns who received a birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine for up to 7 months!
at least one study that used an unvaccinated group as a control!
multiple reviews which have concluded that the hepatitis B vaccine is safe for children, including when it is given as a birth dose
dozens of meta-analysis studies, the highest quality evidence, supporting the use of the hepatitis B vaccines!
Also know that new, thimerosal free versions of these hepatitis B vaccines underwent new clinical trials before approval. New versions of the vaccines that included 30-day follow-up periods after each dose and six month follow-up periods after the last dose!
And know that all of these studies found that hepatitis B vaccines are safe.
Bottom line - anti-vaccine influencers have to revert to tricks, misinformation, and propaganda to try and scare you away from vaccinating and protecting your kids with the hepatitis B vaccines.
More on the Hepatitis B Vaccines
Propaganda About Hepatitis B Vaccine Safety Studies from JB Handley
Misinformed Consent about Hepatitis B Vaccines from Aaron Siri
Will a Baby’s Hepatitis B Vaccine Fail to Protect Them As an Adult
Did the CDC Have Hidden Evidence That the Hepatitis B Vaccine Increased the Risk of Autism?
Overview of clinical studies with hepatitis B vaccine made by recombinant DNA
A Review of the Safety of Hepatitis B Birth Dose Vaccination
Hepatitis B vaccination of preterm infants and risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia: a cohort study, Australia - Morgan 2025
Lack of Association Between Hepatitis B Birth Immunization and Neonatal Death