NEW YORK CITY, NY (Headline News USA) (Copyright © 2025) – The numbers don’t leave much room for debate. Twenty-five children across New York State died from the flu during the 2024–2025 season—more than in any other year on record.

Of the 25, just one had been vaccinated. Five were too young to even receive the shot.

That grim tally was confirmed this week by the New York State Department of Health, which described the season as the most devastating for children in state history. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported at least 216 pediatric flu deaths—marking the worst year since the 2009 H1N1 pandemic according to the Associated Press.

Dr. James McDonald, the state’s health commissioner, didn’t mince words. “Some of these young New Yorkers we lost were too young for the vaccine,” he said in a statement. “The best protection for these little ones is for everyone around them to be vaccinated” as quoted by Spectrum News.

That message hits harder when you realize how preventable most of these deaths likely were. Declining vaccination rates across the country have become a troubling trend, especially among children. This flu season, just 49% of U.S. kids were vaccinated—down from 64% five years ago, according to the CDC. In New York, that number has dipped as well, mirroring the national slide.

Part of the blame, health officials say, lies with the growing tide of misinformation. “We live in a challenging time, where honest objective information is sometimes blurred by misinformation,” Dr. McDonald said, urging New Yorkers to trust the science. “Vaccines are the best protection we have” via NY State of Politics.

In other words: your shot isn’t just about you. It’s about the baby next door who’s too young for one.

The season wasn’t just deadly—it was relentless. New York City, in particular, saw a huge spike in cases. In early February, the city logged more than 22,000 new positive flu tests in a single week, prompting school closures, overwhelmed pediatric clinics, and a chorus of exhausted ER nurses as reported by the New York Post.

That week marked the highest flu activity in the city in five years.

Across the country, the CDC estimates this year’s flu caused at least 26,000 deaths and over 610,000 hospitalizations—figures that put it firmly in the “high severity” category per CDC data reported by AP.

Still, for many families, statistics pale in comparison to their private heartbreak. Twenty-five families in New York are grieving children who won’t be heading to summer camp, or making it to their next birthday.

And while there’s no undoing what’s happened, public health officials are hoping this will serve as a wake-up call heading into the next flu season. Flu vaccines usually become available in early fall, and they’re urging parents not to wait this time.

“Flu shots save lives,” Dr. McDonald said bluntly. “Sometimes, they save the smallest lives of all.”

As New York looks ahead to the 2025–26 season, the message from experts is crystal clear: get the shot, talk to your pediatrician, and help protect the children who can’t yet protect themselves.

Photo by Jon Flobrant on Unsplash