Cook Children’s won’t follow latest CDC guidelines on vaccinations
Cook Children’s Health Care System will not adopt the vaccine guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month, instead recommending that children follow the original vaccine schedule, which protects against 17 diseases.
In January, the CDC updated its childhood vaccination recommendations. The new guidelines reduce the number of vaccines recommended for all children from 17 to 11. Some vaccines, like hepatitis B and meningococcal, it recommends only for high-risk individuals. Others, like shots for flu and rotavirus, should be based on “shared clinical decision-making,” the CDC says.
The recommendations have caused a divergence between the federal government and most major health care providers in the U.S., which continue to follow the original vaccine schedule. The American Academy of Pediatrics said in a policy statement that it “no longer endorses the recommended childhood and adolescent immunization schedule” from the CDC. The American Medical Association also criticized the changes in a statement, saying it was “deeply concerned” by the CDC’s update.
Cook Children’s, the primary pediatric provider in Tarrant County, will follow the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics, a spokesperson said in a statement.
“Cook Children’s Health Care System continues to recommend the complete childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule in alignment with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP),” the spokesperson said. “We encourage families and guardians to talk to their pediatricians about what is best for their child.”
Dallas-based Children’s Health did not respond to questions about the new guidelines.
The CDC’s change came after President Donald Trump directed federal agencies to review other nations’ vaccine schedules. The move is the latest by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long advocated against childhood vaccines.
Public health experts have criticized the CDC’s guideline change, which they say did not follow routine procedure for changing vaccine guidelines and could result in more children sick from preventable diseases. Dr. William Moss, the director of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said the new guidelines could affect both vaccine demand and access.
“If parents hear that these vaccines are no longer routinely recommended, that can decrease the demand for vaccines,” Moss said.
If vaccine coverage declines, Moss said, there could be an increase in Hepatitis B infections in children, which could eventually lead to more cases of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. More cases of diseases like Hepatitis A and meningococcal disease are also possible, he said.
Moss said the changes could also impact vaccine access, particularly if the federal government changes the vaccines accessible through the Vaccines for Children program, which provides free and low-cost vaccines to children without health insurance or who are on Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
The U.S. is currently in the midst of the worst measles outbreak in decades. At least 789 measles cases have been reported in South Carolina, surpassing last year’s outbreak in West Texas. The Texas outbreak hospitalized 99 patients and caused two deaths.
Uptake of the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine declined slightly in the U.S. last year, down to 92.5% of kindergarteners vaccinated, according to the CDC. Vaccine rates actually improved in Tarrant County, to almost 94% of children vaccinated against MMR in the 2024-25 school year.
The CDC’s new guidelines do not automatically change the list of vaccines required to attend school in Texas, which is determined by the state. A spokesperson for the state health department said in a statement: “The vaccine schedule put out by the CDC is a recommendation. The school immunization requirements are in statute and rule. DSHS is not in the process of changing the rules.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2026 at 4:24 PM.
