Fewer people plan to get vaccinated. Misinformation is to blame, the CDC says.

Fewer people are getting vaccinated for the flu and COVID-19 than in previous years, and health officials are blaming misinformation spread online for a growing distrust in vaccines.

While flu vaccination in New Jersey among ages 6 months to 17 years increased last season, nationally it’s the lowest it has been among kids in recent years. And in the Garden State, the number of adults getting vaccinated dropped, new research shows.

Just 38% of U.S. adults — down from 57% last year — say they “definitely plan to get a flu vaccine this year,” despite two-thirds of adults agreeing annual vaccination is the most effective way to prevent flu-related hospitalizations and deaths, according to new data released by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And even though 25,000 people died from the flu in 2023 and another 75,000 from COVID-19, less than 1 in 5 adults in the United States expressed concern about themselves or someone in their family getting a respiratory infection this fall and winter.

READ MORE: ‘Make a plan now,’ doctors warn of upcoming flu season

Flu vaccination rates among children in the United States are also the lowest they’ve been in more than a decade, the report states, in spite of flu deaths reported among children hitting a record high of 199 last season.

“One infant or one childhood death from influenza is one too many, because we can prevent all of these diseases,” said Dr. Flor M. Muñoz, director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, during a press conference on Wednesday.

The majority of children who died from the flu were unvaccinated, Munoz said.

In the 2023–24 flu season, national flu vaccination coverage was 55.4% among children 6 months through 17 years, down from 57.4% the previous season and 63.7% compared with the pre-pandemic 2019–20 season, according to a report from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The last time flu vaccination coverage among children was this low as a national average was in 2011–2012, when coverage was at 51.5%, the report states.

However, flu vaccination coverage for children in New Jersey is among the highest in the nation. The state reported 72% flu vaccination coverage for ages 6 months to 17 years during the 2023-24 season, up from 69.5% the previous year.

The New Jersey Department of Health did not respond to requests for comment.

The number of adults getting vaccinated for the flu has steadily declined since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, new data shows.

Flu vaccination coverage among adults 18 years and older was 44.9% during the 2023-24 season, down from 46.9% the prior season. The last time flu vaccination coverage among adults was lower was six seasons ago, in 2017–18 at 37.1%, according to the report.

Researchers also found that despite 95% of adults who were hospitalized with flu-related complications last season having at least one underlying chronic health condition, only 46% of those age 18-64 years with a chronic health condition received a flu vaccine last season, down from 49% in 2022-23.

New Jersey is following national trends. While nearly 50% of adults 18 years and older in the Garden State received a flu vaccine during the 2022-23 season, 47.3% got a vaccine last season.

Health officials said Wednesday the data shows a need for greater awareness about the risks of respiratory diseases, as well as the safety and benefits of vaccines, both in terms of preventing infections and reducing the risk of hospitalization or death.

“The benefit of a vaccine is far greater than its risk,” said Demetre C. Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at CDC.

“Better to have a sniffle than be in the intensive care unit,” Daskalakis said.

COVID-19 vaccination rates are even lower, with only 23% of adults age 18 years and older receiving an updated shot during the 2023-24 respiratory season. And even though people can safely get both flu and COVID-19 vaccines at the same time, 61% of adults say they would not or are unsure about getting both vaccines at the same time, according to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases report.

Adults who have no plans to get vaccinated cited side effects and a lack of trust in vaccines in general among their top reasons, the report states.

Pervasive misinformation and disinformation are responsible for this lack of confidence, said Dr. Reed Tuckson, co-founder of the Black Coalition Against COVID and chair of the board of the Coalition For Trust In Health and Science.

“We are flooded and bombarded with social media and other forms of public conversation” that misrepresent the facts, Tuckson said.

Put this together with a lack of scientific literacy, “and we really have a crisis,” Tuckson said.

Earlier this month, the Florida Department of Health released updated guidance for healthcare providers that questioned the safety and effectiveness of certain COVID-19 vaccines.

“Based on the high rate of global immunity and currently available data, the State Surgeon General advises against the use of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines,” according to the state guidance.

Tuckson said he was “infuriated” by the guidelines.

The Florida’s Surgeon General’s “misinformation and mischaracterization makes it so much harder for the rest of us who are trying to fight for life,” Tuckson said.

“We have to double fight all of this stuff that comes out of Florida. It makes it harder. It’s a drain on resources, a drain on time, you have to double what you’ve already done,” he said. “There’s too much on the line for playing politics with human survival.”

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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.