{"id":119814,"date":"2026-01-12T11:41:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T11:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/119814\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T11:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T11:41:08","slug":"what-does-the-cdcs-new-vaccine-guidance-mean-for-kids-in-austin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/119814\/","title":{"rendered":"What does the CDC’s new vaccine guidance mean for kids in Austin?"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the nation\u2019s top health officials announced an updated schedule<\/a> of recommended vaccinations for children last week, questions quickly started rolling in from Hays County pediatrician Dr. Marjan Linnell\u2019s patients: did this news change which vaccines their children should get?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt came up three times today,\u201d Linnell said on Wednesday. \u201cThey said, \u2018Have you heard about this new CDC thing?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends childhood vaccinations against 11 diseases, a sharp reduction from the previously recommended 17. Still on the list of \u201ccore vaccines\u201d recommended for all kids are shots that protect against measles, polio, whooping cough, HPV, chickenpox and several others.<\/p>\n

Vaccines that were slashed from that \u201ccore\u201d list are now recommended for children at high risk of serious illness, or for patients who have consulted directly with a health care provider \u2014 a provision referred to as “shared clinical decision-making.” Those include hepatitis A and B, meningitis, flu, COVID-19 and rotavirus. Officials said those vaccines will still be accessible and covered by insurance for those who want them.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter an exhaustive review of the evidence, we are aligning the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule with international consensus while strengthening transparency and informed consent,” said U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long-time critic of many vaccines, in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Lorianne Willett<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

KUT News<\/p>\n

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. secretary of health and human services, speaks during a press conference regarding rural healthcare initiatives at the Texas Capitol in August.<\/p>\n

The CDC\u2019s recommended vaccine schedule isn\u2019t a requirement \u2014 states make their own requirements for kids enrolling in schools and childcare facilities, often referencing the CDC\u2019s guidance. Texas currently requires several vaccines<\/a> that the CDC has changed the status of, including hepatitis A and B for younger children enrolling in school and the meningococcal vaccine for older students.<\/p>\n

Lara Anton, a press officer for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said DSHS \u201cis currently reviewing the changes the CDC made to the recommended vaccine schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, physicians like Linnell are navigating a flood of questions from parents about what these changes mean, often infused with confusion about misinformation they have encountered on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, I think the confusion is starting to make it really difficult for parents to know where to look for advice, but my job is to wade through the confusion with them and go where the science and the safety is,\u201d Linnell said.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s behind the changes<\/p>\n

The CDC\u2019s new schedule comes after President Trump issued a memorandum<\/a> directing the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC to study vaccine practices in \u201cpeer, developed countries\u201d and consider adjusting vaccine recommendations in the U.S. The resulting assessment considers<\/a> the vaccine schedules from 20 other countries; Denmark, which recommends just 10 vaccines, was often cited as a point of comparison. But some experts have argued that the two counties have different health care systems and population health needs.<\/p>\n

This process was a departure from the way changes to the vaccine schedule have typically been rolled out; NPR confirmed<\/a> that the changes were made without input from vaccine manufacturers or formal input from the CDC\u2019s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.<\/p>\n

Linnell said the CDC\u2019s announcement left her with questions and concerns about why specific changes were made.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went down a pretty intense rabbit hole just trying to understand, like, \u2018What have I missed? Where is the new scientific evidence? Why did we pick these [vaccines]?\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cWe have a robust amount of peer-reviewed scientific evidence that shows the schedule as it was prior to these changes this week was safe and works for kids in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The assessment cited by the CDC does not present new evidence about specific vaccines. Rather, it focuses on identifying \u201cconsensus vaccines\u201d that are widely recommended across developed countries. It also focuses on the idea that recommending a greater number of vaccines could erode trust in vaccine recommendations overall, citing dropping vaccine uptake in the U.S.<\/p>\n

A pediatrician\u2019s advice<\/p>\n

The CDC\u2019s new approach gives Linnell pause, because risk for specific illnesses may be greater in some countries and regions than others. For instance, the U.S. saw a hepatitis A outbreak<\/a> linked to produce from Mexico in 2022. She is also confident that the 17 vaccines previously included on the vaccine schedule are safe, both in quantity and the schedule of the doses, based on existing research.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most common questions we get is, \u2018Well, this feels like too many shots for my baby,\u201d she said. \u201cLike, \u2018Look at their cute little chunky thigh. How are they going to handle this?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Linnell points patients to studies and data to answer these questions \u2014 one of her favorite resources for families is the online Vaccine Education Center<\/a> from the Children\u2019s Hospital of Pennsylvania. She also tries to put things in perspective. She explains that vaccines work by introducing a small part of a virus called an antigen into the body, which our immune systems recognize as a threat and form a defense to. Kids also encounter antigens in the wild all the time \u2014 playing in the dirt, touching grocery carts at H-E-B, sucking their thumbs, you name it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a good thing. Your immune system gets exposed and needs to get exposed to build immunity,\u201d she said. \u201cIf the concern is this is too many things [in vaccines], it pales in comparison to what a child runs into in their environment every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right now, Linnell is using the recommended vaccine schedule<\/a> from the American Academy of Pediatrics<\/a>, which aligns with the previous recommendations from the CDC. That\u2019s in line with the position of many Texas pediatric facilities, such as Texan Children\u2019s<\/a> and Austin Regional Clinic Pediatrics.<\/p>\n

Linnell said her priority is making sure parents are comfortable with their child\u2019s care, which means answering any questions they may have. These days, those questions are a lot more nuanced than they used to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI say, \u2018Look, I’m a mom before I’m a doctor, but I am also a doctor. I’ve had extensive training in immunology,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cWe know these vaccines are safe. I trust them, but I want you to be comfortable with what we’re doing for your child. So whatever you have heard, whatever specific thing you’ve heard, I want you to ask me about it, and I will answer it. If I don’t know the answer, I will find you that answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Support for KUT’s reporting on health news comes from St. David\u2019s Foundation<\/a>. Sponsors do not influence KUT’s editorial decisions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After the nation\u2019s top health officials announced an updated schedule of recommended vaccinations for children last week, questions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119815,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[52232,132,134,133,34489,52234,52235,52236,27653,11564,52233,27],"class_list":["post-119814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-american-academy-of-pediatrics","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-cdc","tag-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention","tag-childhood-vaccine-schedule","tag-childhood-vaccine-schedule-changes","tag-rfk","tag-rfk-jr","tag-rfk-jr-vaccines","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}