Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – The State of Illinois has officially come out against the a federal vaccine advisory group’s new recommendation that not every newborn needs a Hepatitis B vaccine.

In a news release, Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Director Doctor Sameer Vohra — a pediatrician — says since it started in 1991, universal vaccinations for newborns have dropped the rate of infection of Hep B by 99 percent, dropping the instances of chronic liver disease and liver cancer later in life.

Vohra says what’s more, there’s an absence of scientific data that sides against the longstanding recommendation.

“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,” said Vohra, in a news release.  “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 says the recent creation of Illinois’ own vaccine guidelines will not change.