Few conversations in my office generate more questions right now than the one about vaccines. Parents walk in with headlines on their phones, conflicting schedules from different agencies, and a simple request that deserves a straight answer: which shots does my child actually need? As a pediatric health guide serving families in the Flushing and greater Queens community, I want to cut through the noise. The core childhood vaccines remain one of the most powerful tools we have to protect children, and skipping them carries real, measurable danger. At the same time, the landscape around newer and optional immunizations genuinely does involve trade-offs worth discussing with your pediatrician.
Why the Core Childhood Vaccines Are Non-Negotiable
Let me be direct. Among children born in the United States between 1994 and 2023, routine childhood vaccinations prevented roughly 508 million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations, and over 1.1 million deaths. That is not a theoretical projection. It is the documented result of decades of immunization against diseases like measles, polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, and others that used to fill pediatric hospital wards every winter.
Before the development and widespread distribution of the measles vaccine in 1963, nearly every child contracted measles before turning 15. Today, many parents have never seen a case of measles in person, and that success can create a false sense of security. When vaccination rates slip even a few percentage points, outbreaks return quickly, as communities across the country have experienced in recent years.
Both the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics continue to recommend that all children receive vaccines protecting against these diseases:
- Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR): These three viruses cause severe complications ranging from brain swelling to permanent hearing loss. A two-dose MMR series offers roughly 97% protection.
- Polio (IPV): Polio can cause irreversible paralysis within hours. Global eradication is within reach only because vaccination rates remain high.
- Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (DTaP): Whooping cough alone still hospitalizes thousands of infants annually. Diphtheria vaccination prevented an estimated 752,800 deaths among children born over the last three decades.
- Chickenpox (Varicella): Often dismissed as mild, varicella can lead to severe skin infections, pneumonia, and encephalitis, particularly in infants and immunocompromised children.
- HPV: Now recommended as a single dose for preteens, the HPV vaccine prevents cervical and other cancers. This is cancer prevention through a simple injection.
- Pneumococcal and Hib: These protect against bacterial meningitis and severe pneumonia, both of which can be fatal or cause lasting neurological damage in young children.
The team at Healthy Kids Pediatrician Flushing follows the AAP-recommended immunization schedule and strongly encourages families to keep every child up to date on these foundational vaccines. Skipping or delaying them does not reduce risk. It increases it.
What Changed in January 2026 and Why It Matters
If you have been following the news, you know that the CDC recently restructured its childhood vaccine schedule into three tiers. The first tier recommends 11 vaccines for all children, including those against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, Hib, pneumococcal disease, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, HPV, and chickenpox. A second category places vaccines like hepatitis A, hepatitis B, RSV, and meningococcal disease into a “high-risk” group. A third tier puts flu, COVID-19, and rotavirus vaccines into a “shared clinical decision-making” category.
The AAP called the removal of universal recommendations “dangerous and unnecessary” and continues to recommend vaccines against 18 diseases in its own 2026 schedule. Many pediatricians, including the physicians at Healthy Kids Pediatrics, continue to follow the broader AAP guidance rather than the narrowed CDC list. All of the vaccines on the prior schedule remain fully covered by insurance, Medicaid, CHIP, and the Vaccines for Children Program, so families will not face out-of-pocket costs regardless of which schedule their doctor follows.
The bottom line for parents: the science behind these vaccines has not changed. What changed is the way the federal government categorizes them.
Weighing Pros and Cons on Newer and Optional Vaccines
Where I believe a genuine, good-faith conversation belongs is around vaccines that fall outside the universally recommended core, particularly newer immunizations or those where your child’s individual risk profile matters. Think of these decisions less like a yes-or-no checkbox and more like a consultation, where the right choice depends on your child’s health history, your family’s circumstances, and current disease activity in your area.
Here is how I suggest parents approach this conversation:
- Risk Assessment: A child entering group daycare at six months faces different exposure levels than a child cared for at home. Your pediatrician can help you evaluate which additional vaccines make sense based on your child’s environment.
- Timing Flexibility: For some optional vaccines, the timing of administration can be adjusted to match your child’s developmental milestones and health status. This is not the same as skipping. It is personalizing.
- Informed Consent: Ask your doctor to walk you through the specific benefits, common side effects, and rare risks associated with any vaccine you are uncertain about. A good pediatrician welcomes these questions.
- Community Context: If you are traveling internationally, or if there is an active outbreak in your region, a vaccine that might otherwise be optional becomes considerably more important.
The key distinction is this: the foundational vaccines on the core schedule protect against diseases that are genuinely life-threatening, highly contagious, or both. Opting out of those puts your child and your community at serious risk. For the newer or supplemental vaccines, having an honest conversation with a board-certified pediatrician who knows your child is exactly the right approach.
Your Pediatrician Is Your Best Resource
In a moment where headlines shift weekly and federal agencies and medical societies are issuing different guidance, the most reliable person in the room is the pediatrician who actually examines your child. As one pediatrician at Weill Cornell Medicine put it, the AAP continues to recommend all the vaccines that have been standard for many years, and there are no changes to that schedule based on the AAP’s current guidance.
If you are a parent in Flushing, Fresh Meadows, or anywhere across Queens, I encourage you to bring your questions directly to a trusted pediatric office. The physicians at Healthy Kids Pediatrician Flushing offer consultations on the full immunization schedule and can help you build a vaccination plan that protects your child with confidence and clarity.
Contributed By: Dan Rose, A Senior Local Business Guide Specializing In Pediatric Health and Family Wellness Services.
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