Instead of going to the pharmacy to get the annual flu vaccine, many people in the US will now be able to get it shipped to their door to take at home themselves. Among children, flu vaccination rates are dropping along with those of other routine childhood vaccines. The CDC classified the 2024-2025 flu season as high severity across all age groups in the US, resulting in at least 610,000 hospitalizations and 27,000 deaths. It was the most severe flu season since the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic. The vaccine contains a weakened form of the live influenza virus and protects against four types of flu strains.