The United States reached a grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic Tuesday — 1 in 500 people in the U.S. has died of COVID-19.
- Johns Hopkins University data show that 663,913 people have died from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic in the United States.
- In all, the U.S. Census Bureau said the U.S. population sets at around 331.4 million.
- As CNN found in its analysis, that’s just about 1 in 500 people from the U.S. dying of COVID-19.
These numbers arrive as the U.S. population can get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus. Free COVID-19 vaccines are available at major pharmacies and testing sites across the nation.
- But there are a number of people still not getting vaccinated, and that could provide a grim outcome this fall.
- The University of Washington released a forecasting model that about another 100,000 people could die from the novel coronavirus between August and December 2021, as I wrote for the Deseret News.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently said on the “Today” show that vaccines are the key to returning to normal and eliminating COVID-19.
- “If we do it right and get through the winter, I hope as we get to the spring of 2022, we’ll get there,” he said on the “Today” show.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the U.S. could avoid another spike if the U.S. doubles down on the vaccine.
- “I think now is our moment to really double down on our vaccination efforts and our other prevention interventions,” she said on “Good Morning America.”