By Jim Talamonti
The Center Square

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesman says Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker eroded public trust and is trying to reinvent public health.

The governor thanked Democratic state lawmakers last week when he signed legislation to empower the Illinois Department of Health to circumvent the federal government and issue its own vaccine guidelines.

“I’d also like to acknowledge the folks who are debunking the federal government’s junk science, our public health leaders who advocated for this bill to protect the well-being of the people of Illinois,” Pritzker said.

State Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, joined Pritzker’s criticism of President Donald Trump’s administration and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“Illinois will go on the offense. We are not powerless. We can defend against the delusions stemming from RFK Jr.’s unfounded assertions that Tylenol causes autism or that vaccines fail to prevent illness,” Morgan said.

HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon provided The Center Square with a statement after Pritzker signed House Bill 767 in Chicago on Tuesday.

“Democrat-led states that imposed unscientific school closures, toddler mask mandates, and vaccine passports during the COVID era destroyed public trust and should not be guiding policy,” Nixon said.

Nixon’s statement also included remarks about Pritzker.

“Now, the same governor who eroded public trust is trying to reinvent public health under the guise of ‘filling a void.’ The Trump Administration and Secretary Kennedy are rebuilding that trust by grounding every policy in rigorous evidence and Gold Standard Science – not the failed politics of the pandemic,” Nixon concluded.

On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to change its hepatitis B vaccination recommendation for infants from birth to no earlier than two months if the mother tests negative for hepatitis B.

Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sameer Vohra responded with a statement.

“As a pediatrician and a parent, I am deeply concerned by this shift away from universal newborn vaccination, particularly in the absence of any new scientific evidence to support such a change. In Illinois, we remain committed to science-based public health policy and have recently enshrined into law vaccine access and a state-level structure to provide evidenced-based recommendations,” Vohra said.

The IDPH director said the current guidance in Illinois remains unchanged.

“Earlier this fall, the Illinois Department of Public Health adopted the CDC immunization schedules as revised on August 7, 2025, which continue to recommend hepatitis B vaccination for all newborns,” Vohra stated.

Before the ACIP voted, Morgan criticized the proposed change away from hepatitis B vaccination at birth.

“Something that saves 98% of those who get three shots of hep B,” Morgan said.

During Illinois House floor debate in October, state Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, called Morgan’s legislation “a Trump Derangement Syndrome bill.”

As Morgan’s HB 767 gives Illinois state health officials more power, Florida is moving to give individual families more freedom.

Florida’s surgeon general, Dr. Joe Ladapo, told MAHA Media that his state is trying to end discrimination against patients and families who make different vaccine choices.

“This extends from every family who, for example, maybe doesn’t want a single vaccine to families who want all the vaccines but just want to take them on their own timetable,” Ladapo said.

During Friday’s ACIP meeting, committee vice chair Robert Malone said the public lost trust in vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. The panel voted 8-3 in favor of changing the hepatitis B recommendations.

Dr. Cody Meissner voted against the change, noting that the American Academy of Pediatrics did not participate in ACIP deliberations.

“The academy has a long history of working closely with ACIP to the betterment of vaccine recommendations for children,” Meister said.

Meister expressed concern that the academy would be seen as more focused on making a political statement instead of focusing on the health of children.

In the CDC statement announcing the change, the agency noted that it was recommending individual-based decision making for parents.

“ACIP also voted to recommend that when evaluating the need for a subsequent hepatitis B vaccine dose in children, parents should consult with health care providers to decide whether to test antibody levels to hepatitis surface antigen to evaluate adequacy of protection through serology results,” the statement said.

A recommendation from ACIP becomes part of the CDC immunization schedule once it is adopted by the CDC director.

The Illinois Immunization Advisory Committee will convene Dec. 16 to review the latest ACIP recommendation.