Americans have faced the highest number of deaths from the flu since 2018. This makes more people vulnerable, just as it becomes vulnerable due to increased vaccine skepticism in the state’s House and the Trump administration.

Influenza-related deaths hit seven-year highs in January and February, according to a stateline analysis of preliminary federal statistics. There have been around 9,800 deaths nationwide, up from 5,000 in the same period last year, the highest since 2018, with around 10,800.

Nevertheless, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has canceled or postponed a meeting to prepare for the next fall flu vaccine.

The cancellation raised protests from healthcare professionals and state and federal officials. US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat from New York; said in a statement Her state has had its worst flu season in at least 15 years, and deaths from flu and other causes are rising as the state’s health care system struggles under tension in flu patients.

Some experts say putting off vaccine plans only feeds false narratives that discourage life-saving vaccinations.

“These delays not only undermine pandemic preparations, they also undermine public confidence in vaccination efforts,” said Dr. Akram Khan, an Oregon respiratory surgeon and an associate professor at the Oregon University of Health and Sciences who studied attitudes towards vaccines.

US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. has He expressed doubt Regarding the need for vaccines, including influenza vaccines, despite evidence that they reduce deaths and hospitalizations.

Deaths fluctuate naturally every year depending on the current severity of the flu strain and the effectiveness of the vaccine for the year. But some have already taken their lives as they are reluctant to use vaccines that have been fed to misinformation and government political mistrust.

“They’re making the most of the vaccine,” said Mark Doherty, a former manager of Glaxsmithkline Biologicals, a vaccine scholar and former manager.

“The US appears to be hit a little bit hard, but there may be fewer vaccinations that contribute to it,” Doherty said.

The distribution of influenza vaccines in the US has been declining in recent years, with the first week of 2025 down 16% from 2022. Federal statistics.

The analysis shows that the influenza is the factor in 9,800 deaths in January and February, using preliminary data collected by the state and compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The highest mortality rates are Oklahoma, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Kentucky, with about four deaths per 100,000 people so far this year. Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and some counties in Oklahoma and Kentucky were even higher – with around six deaths per 100,000 people.

The highest prices are among the elderly. Statistics show that deaths hit white people and American Indians particularly hard.

However, tragedy is occurring across the country for people of all ages and races. 43 years old Indiana’s father He died after a short flu match, according to his family. Local schools after two 10-year-olds died in Prince George County, Maryland. It attracted the crowd Go to the vaccine clinic.

Dougside, pastor of Uly Baptist Church in northern Florida, held funerals for three congregations members who died of the flu. It will only be compared to Covid-19 victims from his congregations during the pandemic, he said.

“The death of the flu is real,” he told Stateline over a phone call from Jacksonville Hospital. There he was visiting another 84-year-old congregation member who had been rescued from his home for unknown reasons due to severe pneumonia.

“I encourage church members to keep their hands clean, use hand sanitizer and stay home if they feel sick,” he said. He said he has not personally received the flu vaccine recently because he has received conflicting advice about it. Some doctors tell him to avoid it as he and some of his family have cancer.

“We all get conflicting advice. We live in strange times,” he said. ( American Cancer Society Vaccination for people with cancer may or may not be recommended depending on the individual situation. )

That’s the case in many states Relaxed Vaccine Requirements As national skepticism rises. However, many people are taking action to warn residents and reassure them that vaccinations are safe and help prevent death despite the misinformation of the opposite.

Burlington County, New Jersey, has the highest flu-related death rate in any county this year, with 31 deaths of less than 500,000 people this year. The county held 30 free vaccine clinics from September to January, then expanded in February due to the severity of the flu season, said Dave Levinsky, a spokesman for the county health department.

In Oklahoma, mortality rates are The highest in the eastern part of the state A place where Cherokee Nation is at its heart. a State promotion campaign Many community health centers emphasize that flu shots are safe, effective and free. However, federal statistics show that vaccination rates in states are lower than in other states as of December. By then, only about 16% of Oklahoma residents had been vaccinated against the flu. Prices were even lower in Louisiana (just under 16%), Mississippi (just 12%) and Texas (just 10%).

By December, the states with the highest flu vaccination rates were Maine (37%), Connecticut and Vermont (33%), and Wisconsin and Minnesota (31%). But even those have been down since 2022.

In recent years, people have become less likely to be vaccinated, and researchers of the phenomenon call it “vaccine hesitation.”

a Report Cureus, published last year in a medical journal, was discovered in comments such as three-quarters of patients in rural New York communities rejected the flu vaccine, and “doesn’t trust the vaccine” and “doesn’t believe in the vaccine.” The most common reasons quoted are that previous vaccinations made me feel sick, I had the flu anyway, or thought I didn’t need a new shot every year. (Note that doctors recommend getting flu vaccinated every year, and even patients who have been vaccinated with the flu are usually faced with a less severe form.)

And with a paper Researchers, published in the journal vaccine in February, found that people refused to receive the flu vaccine for many of the same reasons as they refused to take a shot of Covid-19. This is a sense of “social vulnerability” that leads to distrust in government and medical guidance. One hopeful indication, according to the report, is that vaccine recommendations from trustworthy health professionals can turn such an attitude around.

“Unfortunately, vaccine hesitancy is deeply intertwined with misinformation, political rhetoric and public mistrust,” says Khan, an Oregon respiratory surgeon and research author. “Scientific data alone may not be enough to change public perception, as many vaccine decisions are driven by intestinal emotions and external influences rather than evidence.”

Editor’s Note: This story was explained in the first paragraph and updated. Access to Stateline Reporter Tim Henderson [email protected].

Stateline It is a nonprofit news network that is part of the state newsroom and supports a coalition of grants and donors as a public charity of 501C(3). Stateline maintains editorial independence. For questions, please contact editor Scott S. Greenberger. [email protected].