The World Health Organization (WHO) has criticized a now-halted US-funded plan for a hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau as “unethical.” The trial intended to administer the vaccine to one group of newborns at birth, while delaying it for another group until six weeks of age.

• The WHO expressed “significant concerns” about the plan, noting the birth-dose vaccine is “an effective and essential public health intervention, with a proven record.”
• The US health department, led by Robert F Kennedy Jr, sought the trial to examine the jab’s broader health effects.
• The WHO emphasized the vaccine has been used for more than three decades in over 115 countries.