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• Posted December 12, 2024

Only a Third of U.S. Kids Have Gotten Flu Shots

Despite a record number of American children dying from the flu last year, the percentage of kids getting their flu shots keeps falling.

In new data posted this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 37% of kids had received the vaccine as of Nov. 30 -- down from 43% at the same time last year.

This decline is raising concerns among pediatricians, who are already seeing an uptick in flu cases this season.

“I always have a little bit of dread when flu season is around the corner,” Dr. Kristina Bryant, a pediatric infectious disease doctor at Norton Children’s in Louisville, Ky., told NBC News. “Children experience illness and suffering during flu season, and much of that can be prevented through vaccination.”

For the entirety of the last flu season, just over half of children -- 55% -- received the flu shot, marking the lowest rate in 12 years.

Alicia Budd, head of the CDC’s domestic influenza surveillance team, told NBC News that while flu vaccination rates were slowly increasing before the pandemic, they have not rebounded since.

This year’s flu shot covers the two most common strains of the virus circulating, H1N1 and H3N2. Budd emphasized that any strain of the flu can be dangerous for children.

While the flu shot is not 100% effective, Dr. Michelle Taylor, a pediatrician and health officer in Memphis, stressed its importance.

“Even if you’re exposed and test positive for the flu, the vaccine gives the best chance of having a much easier course of illness than if you hadn’t been vaccinated at all,” Taylor told NBC News.

However, a preliminary report released by the CDC in October suggested the flu shot might be less effective at preventing hospitalizations for children ages 5 and younger this year, with just 39% effectiveness.

Last year, the vaccine’s effectiveness in preventing hospitalizations was estimated to be as high as 61%.

Flu season was especially deadly for children last year, with 205 pediatric deaths -- the highest number seen since before the pandemic, the report stated.

However, the CDC estimates that the actual number of flu-related child deaths could be much higher, with 724 potentially occurring.

Experts believe the high death toll last year can be partly attributed to a long flu season and lower vaccination rates.

“Last year was more drawn-out, so unfortunately, there was more opportunity for children to get infected,” Budd said.

The CDC continues to recommend that everyone age six months and older get a flu shot every year.

For most people, a single shot is enough. However, children who have never had a flu shot may need two doses, spaced four weeks apart, to be fully vaccinated.

“It’s another reminder of how important vaccination is,” Budd said. “More than 80% of the reported influenza-associated pediatric deaths last season occurred in children who were eligible for a flu vaccine but weren’t fully vaccinated.”

More information

The CDC has more on flu vaccines.

SOURCE: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flu report, Dec. 11, 2024; NBC News