[Filligree]

I don't know if this is still the case, but back when I grew up the answer was that it was made from live virus, so there was a (tiny) chance of getting the actual disease if you got it.

Therefore it was only given to populations already at risk of infection, e.g. nurses.

[protomyth]

I remember the same. Our Early Childhood staff got the vaccine unless they had a liver (could be kidney, it has been 20 years) problem. Office staff were not given the vaccine because there was a risk. Things, obviously, could have changed.

[Xylakant]

I’m not a nurse and I have both Hep A and B vaccinations. At least in Germany you can get if you ask for it.

[Filligree]

That was also the case in Norway. It just wasn't automatic.

The risk was really tiny anyway. Even if you did get infected, it was unlikely to cause any damage.

But going from other comments in the thread it's not the same vaccine that is used today, so I expect they fixed the problem.

[Xylakant]

I’d be surprised if it was a live vaccine, due to a medical condition I usually don’t get them. And Wikipedia to the rescue https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_A_vaccine, it’s inactivated virus cultures.

[Filligree]

Same page says one of the ones still in use is in fact attenuated live virus. I'm not remotely surprised it's not commonly in use in the west, though.