​   At First Step Pediatrics, we recognize the overall attitude toward vaccines in America has recently shifted to become uncertain for some, well-defined for others, and confusing for others still.  Whichever position you take, our wish is to help you navigate your choices on vaccines in order to ultimately make well-informed decisions for your children.

Our Vaccine Philosophy

​As an office, we endorse the position and policies put forth by the American Academy of Pediatrics, encouraging parents to vaccinate their children fully and on schedule.  At the same time, parents may freely choose to decline immunizations and know that we will continue to warmly extend our services. We invite any questions you may have on this subject.

Our Vaccine policies

• According to mandates set forth by the State of Texas, children must be up-to-date on well visits before receiving any scheduled vaccines.  Well visits and vaccines may be scheduled at the same time or separately, but well visits must precede vaccines.
• A parent/guardian choosing to decline vaccinations must sign a "Refusal to Vaccinate" form, which will be kept in a patient's file until revoked by the parent/guardian.  Our office will provide you with this form at appointments designated for vaccines, or you may also find it located on the Downloadable Forms page of this website.
• Due to recent litigation related to uninformed refusal, we require a parent/guardian signature in order to continue services with your child(ren).  We reserve the right to dismiss any patients refusing to comply.
• You or your child’s school and daycare may request a copy of your child’s immunization record at any time.  Records may be picked up in person, mailed, or faxed directly to a child’s school/daycare, but please allow up to 24 hours for your request to be fulfilled.  
• We encourage parents to register their children with the Texas Department of State Health Services’ Immunization Registry (ImmTrac2), a collective database accessable to our office that maintains vaccine records for children regardless of the clinic or hospital from which they were administered.  For further information, click the following link:  DSHS ImmTrac2

Declining Vaccines

• A parent/guardian choosing to decline vaccinations must sign a "Refusal to Vaccinate" form, which will be kept in a patient's file until revoked by the parent/guardian.  Our office will provide you with this form at appointments designated for vaccines, or you may also find it located on the Downloadable Forms page of this website.
• Due to recent litigation related to uninformed refusal, we require a parent/guardian signature in order to continue services with your child(ren).  We reserve the right to dismiss any patients refusing to comply.
• ​Public schools overseen by the state of Texas as well as publicly held child-care facilities require a notarized affidavit for vaccine exemption.  A letter from our office will not suffice.  Affidavits may be issued for medical reasons, exclusions for armed forces, or for reasons of conscience.  More information as well as instructions for how to obtain an affidavit may be found by clicking here.  The process may take up to 2 weeks to complete, so we recommend parents initiating the request well in advance of a child's enrollment.
• Requirements for vaccine exemption will vary among private schools and private child-care facilities.  We encourage parents to contact their child's school or facility to receive instructions before contacting our office.

Our Recommended Schedule

First Step Pediatrics endorses the vaccine schedules published by the CDC.  Schedules are updated and subject to change annually according to the CDC.

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