Thanks to rising anti-vaxxer beliefs and the abolishment of vaccination mandates in various spots around the country, the CDC is reporting that 280 kids have died of the flu in the past year. That makes it the second-highest number of pediatric flu deaths ever recorded in US history.Sadly, it’s the second year in a row with record-breaking child deaths. And next year’s numbers probably aren’t going to look better.Last winter was one of the worst flu seasons in modern history. Hospitalization rates hit highs not seen since 2010. Flu deaths overall ranged from 27,000 to 130,000. Children suffered the brunt of it, many of them previously healthy, but most of them had something more ominous in common: they were unvaccinated.Since 2004, every pediatric flu death has been tracked. The last time numbers reached this level were during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. And this season barely missed surpassing that. Despite the availability of flu vaccines—which are very effective at keeping people out of hospitals and morgues—fewer children received them.The Flu Is Killing A Lot of Kids This YearOf course, it’s not just the kids. Vaccination rates in general have been sliding post-pandemic, with the anti-vaccine movement pulling political strings that it only dreamed of a decade ago. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now embedded in the government, has gutted vaccine mandates based on long-debunked claims about vaccine safety. While, for now, Kennedy still supports the flu shot in public, his allies’ moves have already eroded confidence and access. All of this comes at a time when, simultaneously, and also thanks to plummeting vaccination rates, measles has come roaring back, killing several children across the country years after it was eradicated in the United States.It’s safe to say the current government and the entire conspiratorial anti-vaxx movement are solely responsible for all of these deaths. Please don’t take your public health advice from dips**ts on TikTok or Instagram reels, and it’s weird to say, but definitely don’t take your health advice from any central federal health official. Get your kids vaccinated. Get yourself vaccinated.The post Flu Deaths Among Children Are Hitting Record Highs appeared first on VICE.