They began routinely giving the hepatitis B (Hep B) vaccine at birth in the early 1990s , when universal newborn vaccination was adopted in the United States and then more widely worldwide.

Key timeline

  • The first Hep B vaccine was licensed in the early 1980s and was initially targeted mainly to high‑risk adults (such as healthcare workers and people with certain exposures), not all newborns.
  • In the mid‑ to late‑1980s, guidance expanded to vaccinate babies born to mothers known to be hepatitis B–positive, and to certain higher‑risk groups of infants and children.
  • In 1991 , U.S. health authorities recommended that all newborns receive the first Hep B dose at birth (a “birth dose”), shifting from risk‑based to universal infant vaccination.

Why the birth dose was added

  • Many infected children were being missed because maternal screening was incomplete and some children were infected even when their mothers tested negative, often through close household contact.
  • Infants infected in the first year of life have a very high risk (up to about 90%) of developing chronic hepatitis B and later cirrhosis or liver cancer, so preventing infection early is critical.

What happens now

  • In countries that follow U.S.‑style schedules, the standard is a Hep B shot within 24 hours of birth , followed by additional doses in infancy, with some schedule adjustments if the baby is very low birth weight or if the mother’s hepatitis B status is positive or unknown.
  • Globally, the World Health Organization also promotes a timely birth dose as part of efforts to virtually eliminate childhood hepatitis B infections.

TL;DR: The practice of routinely giving Hep B vaccine at birth really took off with universal newborn recommendations in 1991 , after earlier, more limited use in specific high‑risk groups in the 1980s.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.