There's actually a reason for this. Babies born to moms *who are infected* with hepatitis need this shot. If mom is a prostitute or drug user, or if she received no prenatal testing, or if her man sleeps around, there's a chance she could be infected without anybody knowing it. Immigrants from certain regions are higher risk because the disease is endemic and affects some 8% or more of the population in their country of origin. BUT the hospital staff aren't allowed to make judgement calls on that based on your self-reported lifestyle. They have to assume you *could* be in a high-risk group and make recommendations based on that. Only you actually know what risk-group you belong to, so only you can make the appropriate decision about whether or not to opt out. But if the hospital staff tell the truth, it'll make it sound like they're accusing people of being hookers and addicts if they recommend it, and people may refuse if they're trying to hide something like that. Does that make sense?