Late Friday, the U.S. death rate from COVID-19 surpassed 700,000. This is more than Boston’s population. The 100,000 deaths that occurred in the last 100 years were during a period when vaccines, which can overwhelmingly prevent death, hospitalizations, and serious illness, were available to all Americans over 12.
This milestone is extremely disappointing for doctors, public health officials, and the American people, who have watched a pandemic that was easing in the summer turn into a deadly epidemic. Tens of millions of Americans refused to be vaccinated, allowing the deadly delta variant of the virus to spread across the country, killing 600,000 people in just three months.
Florida was the state that suffered the most deaths during the period. The virus claimed the lives of approximately 17,000 people since June. Texas came in second place with 13,000 deaths. Texas was second with 13,000 deaths.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health infectious disease epidemiologist Dr. David Dowdy said that at least 70,000 of the 100,000 deaths in the last 10 years were unvaccinated. He said that most people who succumbed to breakthrough infections in the last 100,000 deaths were unvaccinated.
Dowdy stated that if we were more efficient in our vaccinations, then we could have prevented 90% deaths.” He said this since June.
Dowdy stated that “it’s more than a number on the screen.” It’s thousands upon thousands of tragic stories from people whose loved ones have died.
Danny Baker is one.
A 28-year-old Kansas seed hauler, from Riley, was diagnosed with COVID-19 in summer. He spent over a month in hospital before he died on Sept. 14. He was survived by his wife and a seven-month-old daughter.
His father J.D., 56, said that “this thing took a grown man. A 28-year old young man, 6’2″ and 300-pound man and took him down as if it were nothing.” Baker, Milford, Kansas. “And so, young people believe that they are still… protected due to their youth and strength. It’s not true anymore.”
Danny Baker, a high-school trap shooter and avid hunter and fisherman, insists that he will be the first to get a vaccine in the initial days of the pandemic.
The U.S. advised him to halt the use of Johnson & Johnson vaccines to investigate reports of dangerous and rare blood clots. He was afraid of the news and the online information that suggested the vaccine could cause fertility problems. However, medical experts claim there is no reason to believe the shots will affect fertility.
He was also breastfeeding so he decided to wait. Experts now recommend that breastfeeding mothers get the vaccine to protect themselves and their babies. Breastfeeding mothers may also be protected by antibodies in breastmilk.
Aubrea Baker (27-year-old labor and delivery nurse), said that there was a lot of misinformation about the vaccine. She added that her husband’s passing inspired a Facebook page and at most 100 people to get vaccinated. It’s not that we didn’t want it. It was just that we hadn’t yet gotten it.”
Mid-June saw 600,000 deaths. Vaccinations were already reducing caseloads. Restrictions were being lifted, and people looked forward for life to return to normal. The average death per day in the U.S. was now around 340, down from an extreme of more than 3,000 in January. Soon thereafter, officials declared it a epidemic of unvaccinated people.
However, as the delta virus swept the country and caused a surge in caseloads and death rates, especially among the young and unvaccinated, hospitals across the country reported dramatic increases in the number of admissions and deaths for people aged 65 and under. However, they also reported breakthrough infections or deaths at much lower rates. This prompted efforts to give booster shots to Americans who were most vulnerable.
Daily deaths now average around 1,900 per day. Deaths have begun to decline from September’s highs, but it is possible that the situation will worsen during winter months as colder weather forces people into the house.
