Erie County Department of Health Urges Flu Vaccination as 2025–2026 Season Begins

Protect yourself from respiratory illness this winter: get vaccinated, wash your hands and stay home and away from others when ill

As the 2025-26 flu season begins, the Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) is urging all residents ages 6 months and older to get their annual flu vaccine.

"Getting a flu vaccine takes just a few minutes, and provides a base of protection for you, your household and our community," said Commissioner of Health Dr. Gale Burstein. "We ring the bell on this every year, but trends are pointing to a more severe flu season, with cases already rising. The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) reported a recent 30% increase in flu cases in one week. Vaccination is especially critical for older adults, pregnant people and young children, who are all at higher risk for serious complications."

She continued, "Our county has a good start on vaccine rates for this season, but still much room to improve our level of protection. About half of all adults ages 75 and older, over a third of adults ages 65-74, and a quarter of all young kids between 6 months and 4 years have this year's flu vaccine. Other age categories have lower individual risk, but they also are likely to expose more vulnerable family members and friends to flu illness. If you haven't gone for the flu vaccine, now is the time."

"Being sick with the flu means feeling miserable for up to a week - missing school, missing work, and missing out on your favorite activities, and even longer to fully recover," explained Dr. Burstein. "When making the choice to get a flu vaccine, remember that one dose will reduce the risk of serious illness or even a hospital stay for you or a family member."

Flu vaccines are widely available at:

• Pharmacies
• Primary care providers
• Community health clinics

Most insurance plans cover flu shots at no cost. Uninsured individuals may qualify for vaccines at no cost through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program available at most medical offices or Vaccines for Adults (VFA) program available at ECDOH.

Last year's flu season saw an estimated 47 million illness, 610,000 hospitalizations, and 26,000 deaths, including a record 216 pediatric deaths nationwide. Seasonal influenza remains a serious, and preventable, health threat, particularly for:

• Adults 65 and older, who are more likely to experience severe illness and hospitalization.
• Pregnant people, whose immune and respiratory changes increase the risk of complications such as premature labor.
• Infants under 6 months, who are too young to be vaccinated and rely on maternal antibodies for protection; children younger than 2 years old
• People who are pregnant or who could become pregnant, and up to 2 weeks after the end of pregnancy
• People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities
• People with chronic medical conditions - lung, heart, endocrine, blood, kidney, liver, neurological, and metabolic including obesity (BMI of 40+)
• People with a weakened immune system due to disease (such as people with HIV or AIDS, or some cancers such as leukemia) or medications (such as those receiving chemotherapy or radiation treatment for cancer, or persons with chronic conditions requiring chronic corticosteroids or other drugs that suppress the immune system)
• People who have had a stroke

Updates to published flu data trends from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are unstable and incomplete. Fortunately, the New York State Department of Health maintains robust and regularly updated state- and county-level datafor laboratory-confirmed respiratory illness cases, respiratory illness hospitalizations and flu and COVID-19 vaccination rates.

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Erie County Department of Health: Influenza

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