Propelled in part by the extremely contagious omicron variant, the US death toll from COVID-19 reached 900,000 on Friday, less than two months after eclipsing 800,000. The two-year total, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is greater than the population of Indianapolis, San Francisco, or Charlotte, North Carolina. The milestone comes more than 13 months after a vaccination campaign that has been plagued by misinformation and political and legal conflict, even though the shots have been shown to be safe and highly effective in preventing serious illness and death. “That’s an astronomically high number. If you had told most Americans two years ago, when this pandemic was raging, that 900,000 Americans would die in the next few years, I think most people wouldn’t have believed it.” said Dr. Ashish K. Jha, dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University, noting that most of the deaths occurred after the vaccine was licensed. directed at how to help people get vaccinated, combat misinformation, not politicize this,” Jha said. “Those are the places where we’ve failed as the United States.” Only 64% of the population is fully vaccinated, or about 212 million Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”We have underestimated our enemy here and we have prepared to protect ourselves,” said Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, a professor of public health at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Hopkins Bloomberg.”We’ve learned an enormous amount of humility in the face of a deadly and contagious respiratory virus. COVID-19 isn’t done with America, either. Dr. Andrew Noymer, a professor of public health at the University of California, Irvine, predicted the US will hit 1 million deaths by March 1. “I think it’s important that we don’t go numb. Every one of those numbers is someone,” said the Rev. Gina Anderson-Cloud, senior pastor of Fredericksburg United Methodist Church in Virginia. “Those are mothers, fathers, children, our elders.” Tracking COVID-19 That’s right as the authorization process for children’s COVID-19 vaccines is different from others Disneyland requires vaccinations for employees but not for guests US hospitals their control over the US, with new cases falling in In recent weeks and the decline in the number of Americans in the hospital with COVID-19, deaths are running at more than 2,400 a day on average, the highest level since last winter Despite its wealth and world-class medical institutions Globally, the US has the highest reported number of any country, and even then, the actual number of lives lost directly or indirectly to the coronavirus is believed to be significantly higher.Experts believe some deaths from CO VID-19 have been wrongly attributed to other conditions. And some Americans are believed to have died from chronic illnesses, such as heart disease and diabetes, because they were unable or unwilling to get treatment during the crisis. Anderson-Cloud lost her father to dementia after he was hospitalized for cancer surgery and later isolated in a COVID-19 ward. He went into cardiac arrest, was revived, but died about a week later. She had planned to be at her bedside, but her rules forbade him to go to the hospital. She wonders if her condition was made worse by her isolation. She wonders if she was scared. She wonders how many other cases like hers there are. “There are all these stories and all this pain,” she said. COVID-19 has become one of the top three causes of death in the United States, behind the big two: heart disease and cancer. Noymer said that if the death rate from COVID-19 continues, it will cut life expectancy in the U.S. by up to two years. “There aren’t many tools left. We need to double down and create new ones,” she said. When the vaccine was launched in mid-December 2020, the death toll was around 300,000. It reached 600,000 in mid-June 2021 and 700,000 on October 1. On December 14 it reached 800,000. It only took 51 more days to reach 900,000, the fastest jump of 100,000 deaths since last winter. The latest 100,000 deaths include those caused by both the delta variant and omicron, which began to spread rapidly in December and became the predominant version in the US before the month was out. infected with omicron contributed to the large number of deaths. “We’ve been arguing with each other about tools that actually save lives. The sheer amount of politics and misinformation around vaccines, which are remarkably effective and safe, is staggering,” Sharfstein said. And he added: “This is the consequence.”
Driven in part by the extremely contagious omicron variant, the US death toll from COVID-19 reached 900,000 on Friday, less than two months after eclipsing 800,000.
The two-year total, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is greater than the population of Indianapolis, San Francisco, or Charlotte, North Carolina.
The milestone comes more than 13 months after a vaccination campaign that has been plagued by misinformation and political and legal conflict, even though the shots have been shown to be safe and highly effective in preventing serious illness and death.
“That’s an astronomically high number. If you had told most Americans two years ago, when this pandemic was raging, that 900,000 Americans would die in the next few years, I think most people wouldn’t have believed it.” said Dr. Ashish K. Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
He noted that most of the deaths occurred after the vaccine was licensed.
“We got the medical science right. We got the social science wrong. We got it wrong on how to help people get vaccinated, fight misinformation, not politicize this,” Jha said. “Those are the places where we have failed as the United States.”
Only 64% of the population is fully vaccinated, or about 212 million Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We have underestimated our enemy here and have not prepared to protect ourselves,” said Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, a professor of public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “We have learned an enormous amount of humility in the face of a deadly and contagious respiratory virus.”
COVID-19 is not done with the United States either. Dr. Andrew Noymer, a professor of public health at the University of California, Irvine, predicted that the US will hit 1 million deaths by March 1.
“I think it’s important that we’re not put to sleep. Every one of those numbers is someone,” said the Rev. Gina Anderson-Cloud, senior pastor of Fredericksburg United Methodist Church in Virginia. “They are mothers, fathers, children, our elders.”
COVID-19 Tracking
As omicron is loosening its grip on the US, with new cases plummeting in recent weeks and the number of Americans in hospital with COVID-19 declining, deaths are reaching more than 2,400 a day on average, the highest level since last winter. .
Despite its wealth and world-class medical institutions, the US has the highest reported figure of any country, and even then, the actual number of lives lost directly or indirectly to the coronavirus is believed to be significantly higher. .
Experts believe that some deaths from COVID-19 have been wrongly attributed to other conditions. And some Americans are believed to have died of chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes because they were unable or unwilling to get treatment during the crisis.
Anderson-Cloud lost her father to dementia after he was hospitalized for cancer surgery and later isolated in a COVID-19 ward. He went into cardiac arrest, was revived, but died about a week later.
She had planned to be at his bedside, but the rules forbade her to go to the hospital. She wonders if her condition was made worse by her isolation. She wonders if she was scared. She wonders how many other cases like hers there are.
“There are all these stories and all this pain,” he said.
COVID-19 has become one of the top three causes of death in the United States, behind the big two: heart disease and cancer. Noymer said that if the death rate from COVID-19 continues, it will reduce life expectancy in the United States by up to two years.
Ja said he and other medical professionals are frustrated that lawmakers are apparently running out of ideas to get people to roll up their sleeves.
“There are not many tools left. We need to redouble our efforts and create new ones,” he said.
When the vaccine was launched in mid-December 2020, the death toll was around 300,000. It reached 600,000 in mid-June 2021 and 700,000 on October 1. On December 14 it reached 800,000.
It only took 51 more days to reach 900,000, the fastest jump of 100,000 deaths since last winter.
The latest 100,000 deaths encompass those caused by both the delta and omicron variants, which began spreading rapidly in December and became the predominant version in the US before the month was out.
While omicron has been shown to be less likely to cause severe illness than delta, the large number of people who became infected with omicron contributed to the large number of deaths.
“We’ve been fighting amongst ourselves over the tools that actually save lives. The sheer amount of politics and misinformation around vaccines, which are remarkably effective and safe, is staggering,” Sharfstein said.
And he added: “This is the consequence.”
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism