Prescribing is substantially below the estimated 260,000 annual treatment courses needed to achieve US elimination targets.
The University of Southern Denmark has placed a “full hold” on a heavily criticized clinical trial of the hepatitis B vaccine in Guinea-Bissau owing to ethical concerns.
Means defended removing the newborn dose of the hepatitis B vaccine from the childhood immunization schedule.
The country's foreign minister told Reuters the controversial trial is "not going to happen."
Rates climbed from 68% in January 2017 to a peak of 84% in February 2023 before dropping to 73% by August 2025.
Up to 90% of infants infected with hepatitis B at birth develop chronic liver infections.
The study involves hepatitis B vaccination in Guinea-Bissau, where nearly one in five people are chronically infected with the virus.
Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to the acting CDC director regarding the $1.6 million award to a controversial hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau.
Health officials in Guinea-Bissau say a committee reviewing the controversial study needs more information before it can make a final decision.
African officials say a controversial study of the hepatitis B vaccine—scheduled to begin this month—may be canceled, but US officials differ.
