U.S. COVID-19 Death Toll Surpasses 700,000

The U.S. has now eclipsed 700,000 deaths from COVID-19.

This new data comes from Johns Hopkins University, which reveals that the U.S. passed that mark on Friday. Previously, in June, America had seen a total of 600,000 deaths and millions of confirmed cases since the pandemic’s outset. The death toll remains high even though the vaccine is available to all for free. 

“If we had been more effective in our vaccination, then I think it’s fair to say, we could have prevented 90 percent of those deaths,” since mid-June, Dr. David Dowdy of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said, per NBC News.

Dr. Dowdy, who said that the majority of deaths have been in unvaccinated patients, continued, “It’s not just a number on a screen… It’s tens of thousands of these tragic stories of people whose families have lost someone who means the world to them.”

Joe Biden issued a statement on Saturday, per The Guardian: “To heal we must remember, and as our nation mourns the painful milestone of 700,000 American deaths … we must not become numb to the sorrow. On this day, and every day, we remember all those we have lost to this pandemic and we pray for their loved ones left behind who are missing a piece of their soul.

He added, “As we do, the astonishing death toll is yet another reminder of just how important it is to get vaccinated.”

The highest death rates remain in southern states that have low vaccination numbers, like Florida, Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Now that about 65 percent of those who are eligible to get the vaccine have gotten it, the death rate has dipped for the latest wave of cases, in comparison to previous surges.

Health experts say that the virus could see a downturn into 2022. In late September, ABC News reported that after just one year, U.S. deaths from COVID surpassed the number of Americans who died during the 1918 influenza pandemic: 675,446 Americans have died from COVID, while an estimated 675,000 died from the Spanish flu.