Opinion: I have hep B. RFK Jr.’s must not minimize its danger to newborns.

I’m deeply alarmed by reports that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s hand-picked Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices may recommend delaying the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine from birth until age 4.

I was turned away from a blood drive at 22. That is how I learned I have hepatitis B, a virus I contracted at birth from my mother who was unknowingly infected.

My story is not unique.

Like my own mother, countless women are unaware they have hepatitis B. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s birth-dose vaccination policy is the safeguard that prevents their babies from facing the same lifelong infection I did.

This official recommendation of the federal government protects young Americans during the very first and most vulnerable moments of their lives. Rolling it back would mean more children carrying this virus for life, as I do.

If adopted, this change would reverse decades of progress that have virtually eliminated childhood transmission of a virus that continues to affect millions across this nation — including me.

I implore Secretary Kennedy and his advisers: Listen to science and maintain the current recommendation.

Here are four reasons why the CDC’s birth-dose vaccination policy should remain — especially for those born to mothers with hepatitis B — and why delaying it poses serious risks to public health:

1. Prevention of mother-to-child transmission: For babies born to mothers with hepatitis B, the vaccine paired with hepatitis B immune globulin is the single most effective protection against transmission at birth when risk is highest. Delaying immunization for four years allows the virus to take hold during the most vulnerable window of life and needlessly risks turning every exposure into a lifelong infection.

2. Long-term health consequences: Chronic hepatitis B infection greatly increases the risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer, as well as the need for costly and lifelong monitoring and treatment. When infection occurs at birth, infants are more likely to develop these chronic conditions — and because those infections begin so early, the lifetime burden of managing the risks these conditions pose is dramatically greater.

3. Public health success and equity: The universal birth-dose represents a public health triumph. Not only has it dramatically reduced incidence of disease in children, it also serves as an important safeguard in cases when maternal disease status is unknown, misdiagnosed, or possibly undetected. Delaying immunization would widen gaps in protection, especially for populations that lack access to testing.

4. National risk remains: Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 144, which empowers California to set its immunization guidance based on recommendations from independent medical organizations rather than deferring to federal recommendations. We’ve taken steps to insulate Californians from disastrous policy changes like the one now under consideration. But hundreds of millions of Americans living outside the Golden State do not have this safeguard.

As California state treasurer and as someone who has lived with chronic hepatitis B since birth, I know firsthand the toll this virus can take. It is a lifelong burden affecting health, peace of mind and far too often, how others perceive the millions of Americans living with this disease.

I urge Secretary Kennedy and his Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to maintain the CDC’s current recommendation: Administer the first hepatitis B vaccine dose at birth, for all infants, regardless of maternal status.

Any proposed changes must be predicated on a thorough, transparent review of the data, with input from hepatologists, pediatricians, perinatal specialists and community advocates.

If adopted, I vow to convene my colleagues in the Legislature, public health leaders and the voices of impacted communities to craft a robust state response to this disastrous policy.

I pledge to support increased funding for hepatitis B surveillance, mother-to-child transmission prevention programs, education and access to care. Vaccine policy is just one piece of the puzzle — we must build a comprehensive strategy to eliminate hepatitis B.

My hep B story began unexpectedly at a blood drive at age 22. Thanks to the CDC’s birth-dose vaccine recommendation, far fewer Americans will have to endure not only that shock, but also the lifelong health risks, monitoring and treatment that come with hepatitis B.

That is progress we cannot allow Secretary Kennedy to undo.

Ma is the California state treasurer.