August 2026 — Liz Trevino, MA, Medical Assistant Supervisor at Vecino’s Airline Children and Women’s Health Center, has received the 2026 Immunization Champion Award — one of only 48 recipients nationwide. Selected by the Houston Health Department, she represents the City of Houston among this year’s honorees.
Childhood immunization work that happens every day
The award honors people who go above and beyond to expand vaccine access, raise immunization coverage in their communities, and contribute significantly to public health. In Liz’s case, that work is operational, consistent, and largely invisible to anyone outside the clinic.
She has built workflows at Airline that make full use of the state immunization information system, with patient records reviewed before the appointment and updated after vaccines are administered — keeping reporting accurate and timely, and keeping families’ records ready when schools and childcare providers request them. She monitors storage and handling, maintains data loggers, and tracks inventory closely, including the deliberate use of soon-to-expire doses to reduce waste. At Airline’s most recent Vaccines for Children compliance site visit, reviewers identified zero deficiencies.
Liz also carries what she learns outward. She attends VFC trainings and brings the material back to the medical assistants she supervises, so current requirements and best practices move through the team rather than staying with one person.
Making childhood vaccination a team priority
Liz has made immunization a shared priority for the staff she supervises, not a task that falls to one person. She has been intentional about the culture at Airline — a clinic environment organized around accountability, efficiency, and quality patient care, where the measure of success is what the team accomplishes together rather than what any individual achieves alone.
Vaccines are the most effective tool we have for keeping children healthy. But they only work if families can actually get them, reliably, every time. That’s what Liz has built at Airline — and it’s why this recognition matters for the whole community.
Representing Vecino families in Houston immunization policy
Dr. Juan Olivares, Jr., Director of Pediatrics, and Liz are meeting with the Houston Health Department and the City of Houston Mayor’s Office to discuss vaccines as part of National Immunization Awareness Month — a conversation that follows from Liz’s recognition as an immunization leader locally and nationally.
For a community health center, that matters beyond the individual honor. Vecino’s patients include many families for whom the health center is the primary point of access to preventive care. So the meeting is a real opportunity for the practical realities of vaccinating Houston’s children to be included where decisions get made.
About the Immunization Champion Award
The Immunization Champion Award is hosted by the Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One recipient is selected for each participating state, city, and territory, chosen by that jurisdiction’s own immunization program from a field of health professionals, coalition members, community advocates, and immunization leaders. Houston’s award was decided by the Houston Health Department, which selected Liz locally and submitted her name to AIM. The 2026 class of 48 includes physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and public health directors from across the country.
AIM is a nonprofit membership association made up of the directors of the 66 federally funded state, territorial, and local public health immunization programs. AIM Executive Director Claire Hannan noted that the awards honor individuals committed to protecting their communities from vaccine-preventable diseases, and that the association and its members celebrate what this year’s 48 winners have accomplished in advancing immunization.