Fewer New Yorkers are getting the flu shot, as cases surge in the state.
The New York State Dept. of Health is reporting more than 28,000 cases for the week ending Jan. 3. Over 4,200 flu patients had to be hospitalized.
With people going back to work and school, those numbers are expected to rise. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) on Sunday sent a warning about what he calls the Trump administration’s weakened flu vaccine recommendations during this surge.
The Senate minority leader is demanding the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services reverse those changes.
“We’ve seen what happens when vaccine confidence drops and guidance is unclear,” said Schumer. “More children get sick. Families get sick. More people get scared. More hospitals feel the strain, and in the worst case scenario, people die. New Yorkers, deserve leadership from Washington that is guided by science, not guesswork.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced an unprecedented overhaul of the childhood vaccine schedule earlier this month that recommends fewer shots to all children.
Under the change, the vaccine schedule will more closely resemble Denmark’s, recommending all children get vaccines for 11 diseases, compared with the 18 previously on the schedule.
Senior Health and Human Services Department officials said the changes are meant to restore trust in public health that spilled over from the Covid pandemic.
Schumer is also calling on the CDC to start a public awareness campaign encouraging people to get their flu shots.
The CDC said it will continue to recommend that all children get vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, polio, pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), pneumococcal disease, HPV and chickenpox.