Low Flu Vaccination Rates Among VA Children Worry Experts

VIRGINIA — Only about 45.1 percent of kids in Virginia have gotten seasonal influenza vaccinations, a worrisome national trend among health officials after a record 205 U.S. children — and likely many times more — died of the flu last year.

As of Nov. 30, just over a third (37 percent) of U.S. kids 17 and younger had gotten flu shots, compared with 43 percent at the same time last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Virginia, 49.9 percent of children had gotten flu shots by this time in 2023. The CDC recommends flu shots for everyone 6 months of age or older. Flu can be more dangerous than a common cold for children under 5, and especially so for kids under 2.

The CDC expects hospitalizations for flu and COVID-19 to start increasing in the coming weeks, and says vaccinations are the best way to avoid severe illnesses. It takes about two weeks for the flu shot to take full effect.

Seasonal influenza rates are ticking up but remain low nationally, according to the CDC’s latest surveillance data.

Activity is moderate in Virginia, so far, but trending up, said the state health department. For the week ending Dec. 14, about 18 percent of emergency room visits were for various respiratory illnesses, which includes influenza, RSV and COVID-19.

While the Commonwealth has reported 28 deaths from those three respiratory illnesses in the last six weeks, none of the fatalities was a pediatric patient, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

A total of 26.9% Virginians received the 2024-25 influenza vaccine and adults 65+ have the highest coverage of any age group. A total of 11.7% Virginians received the 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine and adults 65+ have the highest coverage of any age group. A total of 28.0% Virginians 75 and older received the RSV vaccine.

The CDC said that while 200 pediatric deaths were confirmed for the 2023-2024 influenza season, as many as 724 children may have died of the flu. Not all children who die are tested for the flu, according to the government health agency.

Health officials said the low vaccination rates — only about 55 percent of kids ended up getting their shots last year — and an exceptionally long flu season combined to make it a particularly deadly one for children.

With adults included, about 28,000 people died from the flu during the 2023-2024 season. Flu vaccination rates among adults ticked up the first year of the pandemic, but have since declined. The last time vaccine coverage was this low among adults was the 2017-2018 season, according to the CDC.