It is irresponsible of Sridhar Vembu, Former CEO of Zoho Corporation, to foray into scientific arena with his own wishful understanding of things. He seems to be just an anti-vaxxer.

Vaccines save lives.

Those who do not know history or want to look at history often land in myopic mess. Do not forget the scourge of smallpox, polio, diphtheria, measles, H. influenzae to name a few. Now we do not see or hear much because of effective vaccines against them.

Hepatitis B can also turn dreaded, particularly chronic infection, culminating into cirrhosis (fibrosis of liver) and death for many.

Coming to the point of Hep B shot in newborns: Why it is recommended at birth (or as soon as possible after birth)? Every pregnant mother should be screened for Hep B infection during pregnancy, typically during first trimester. If she was negative at that point, still we give Hep B to the neonate at birth, so that if the mother acquired infection during the interregnum, the baby might be protected by providing vaccine sooner than later.

The CDC's proposed recommendation of December 5 overturning Hep B vaccine at birth is just unfortunate, not backed by science. Let us remember the current Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is not very fond of science.

One more fact: You do not see Hep B infection in infancy much now in the US because vaccines have prevented in last decades. So, let Hepatitis B disease not become a victim of its own preventive strategy.

In Indian context: We have poor data regarding infection reporting. So, only a foolhardy will think of discontinuing proven benefits of vaccination among scarcity of resources.

Bottom line: Let us not get carried away by the quacks and charlatans like Kennedy and Vembu.