An Act relating to public health; creating the Oklahoma Parental Decision-Making and Hepatitis B Immunization Act of 2026; providing short title; providing findings and purposes; providing for certain interpretation of state law and rules; specifying certain requirements and restrictions on administration of hepatitis B vaccine to infants; prohibiting certain vaccination requirements; specifying certain parental rights; requiring certain notice and informed consent; directing certain promulgation of rules; describing rules; providing certain construction; limiting effect of act; providing severability; providing for non-codification; providing for codification; and providing an effective date
One Reply to “SB 1568 (2026)”
SB 1568 rewrites Oklahoma’s approach to the hepatitis B “birth dose” by removing the expectation that every baby gets it within 12 hours as the default.
For babies born to mothers who test negative, it makes the timing and location of starting the hep B vaccine series a shared decision between the parent and the child’s health care provider, and it bars hospitals or midwives from requiring the shot as a condition of discharge or other care. It also says parents can decline or delay the birth dose for any reason without being penalized, and it requires providers to give notice about current ACIP recommendations and get informed consent before administering any hep B dose unless it’s an emergency.
Finally, it directs the State Commissioner of Health to update state rules within a year to remove the universal birth-dose requirement while keeping prompt prophylaxis for babies whose mothers are hep B positive or whose status is unknown.
Effective date: November 1, 2026
Comments are closed.