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Hong Kong healthcare and hospitals
Opinion
SCMP Editorial
SCMP Editorial

Editorial | Hong Kong is right to hold the line against US vaccine scepticism

As Hong Kong steps up its fight against viral hepatitis, health authorities are right not to follow a US policy shift on the hepatitis B vaccine

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The Centre for Health Protection has said it disagrees with the new US guidelines making the hepatitis B vaccine optional. Photo: Getty Images
SCMP Editorial
Vaccine scepticism is as old as the disease-fighting jabs themselves, but recently it has been a subplot in the political drama in the United States. Now, even globally respected advice from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has been changed. Understandably, many Hong Kong parents have been left confused after the US rolled back a long-standing recommendation for a universal birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.
Instead of being a routine mandatory shot, it is now listed as a choice to be made by individual parents and doctors. The guidance differs from the American Academy of Paediatrics, which continues to recommend the jab. It is good that Hong Kong officials have stepped in to warn parents not to “blindly follow” US changes. Dr Albert Au Ka-wing, head of the communicable disease branch of Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection, said city health authorities “do not agree” with recommendations to “delay or cancel” the hepatitis B jabs for newborns.

For decades, universal vaccination of infants has been a triumph of public health. Since Hong Kong introduced it in 1988, the practice has slashed infection rates and chronic liver disease cases. However, progress can be lost quickly in a densely populated city. A 2020-22 government survey showed 410,000 people in the city were living with hepatitis B. The virus is still the leading cause of liver cancer. More work is needed.

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The government launched a five-year action plan in December 2025 to fight viral hepatitis by raising public awareness, tracking health sector responses and curbing transmission, especially from mother to child. A screening programme is set to start on February 7.

Medical decisions are intensely personal, and some patients have underlying health issues or allergies to consider. However, choices should be made in consultation with health professionals rather than based on anxiety, trends or self-guided online research.

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As the authorities expand the fight against hepatitis B, it is good they are holding the line against overseas policy shifts. Awareness and smart health programmes can help inoculate the city against scepticism spreading from abroad.

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