Flu deaths may have surpassed COVID deaths nationwide for first time since start of pandemic, early CDC data suggests

For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, more people in the U.S. died of influenza than from COVID-19 in the week ending on Jan. 25, according to weekly figures published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For the week ending on Jan. 25, nearly 1.7% of all deaths nationwide were attributed to the flu, compared to roughly 1.5% being the result of COVID-19, according to CDC data. Rates of influenza hospitalizations are more than three times higher than COVID-19 hospitalizations amid this season’s record wave of flu infections.

Partial CDC data suggest that influenza deaths may have already reached as high as 2% of deaths for the week ending on Feb. 1, also surpassing COVID-19 mortality nationwide which was holding at around 1.5%. More complete data is expected to be published Friday.

In 22 states, the rate of influenza deaths has been outpacing COVID-19 deaths throughout the first five weeks of 2025.

The gap between flu and COVID-19 deaths is biggest in California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and Wyoming, where the percentage of weekly deaths from flu are at least double those from COVID-19. 

Health officials track the percentage of weekly deaths as an early indicator of trends in flu and COVID-19 deaths, since it can take several weeks for all deaths to be confirmed and counted.

The agency’s modelers estimate that between 13,000 and 65,000 flu deaths have occurred so far this season, already above the range of influenza deaths for all of last season. 

That is also a higher range than the between 18,000 and 31,000 deaths from COVID-19 that the CDC estimates have happened so far this winter.

This winter’s COVID-19 wave has been smaller than previous waves of the virus, measured both in emergency rooms and hospitalizations. 

No new highly mutated variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 has emerged to drive a major surge of infections, unlike several previous waves, and rates of vaccinations have outpaced several previous seasons in older adults who are more vulnerable to severe disease.

By contrast, the CDC has tracked influenza activity climbing to some of the highest rates seen since the peak of the swine flu pandemic in 2009. Levels are “very high” in 33 states and the District of Columbia, the CDC said on Friday.

Influenza vaccinations have lagged in some age groups, CDC data suggests, especially in children. Less than 45% of children in the U.S. have gotten a flu shot, down from more than 58% at this time of year in 2020.

“Foremost, anyone who has not been vaccinated for flu this season should get vaccinated immediately. Flu activity remains elevated and continues to increase across the country,” CDC spokesperson Paul Prince said in a Feb. 10 statement.

Several factors can impact flu activity in the U.S., he said, including which flu viruses are circulating and the immunity people have from prior infections and vaccinations.

“While flu activity and flu season severity cannot be predicted and can vary from season to season, it is expected to see flu activity elevated and increasing at this time of the year,” said Prince.

John Kelly

contributed to this report.

More

More

Alexander Tin is a digital reporter for CBS News based in the Washington, D.C. bureau. He covers federal public health agencies.

Source link