Hundreds of Americans, thousands around the world are still dying of COVID-19 every day
For many Americans, it may feel like the coronavirus pandemic is essentially over. But as of Thursday, "more people have died from COVID-19 already this year than in all of 2020," The Wall Street Journal reports — more than 1.884 million in the first six months of 2021, versus 1.880 million in 2020, according to official figures tallied by Johns Hopkins University. And while U.S. COVID-19 deaths have fallen 90 percent since their peak in January, hundreds of Americans are still dying every day from the coronavirus.
Deaths are not distributed evenly, either around the world — Europe and North America accounted for 72 percent of daily deaths at the beginning of 2021, and now more than 75 percent of daily deaths are in South America, Asia, and Africa, the Journal reports — or inside the U.S. The main factor in who lives and who's dying now, globally and in the U.S., is vaccinations.
"More than half of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and it's the remaining unvaccinated population that is driving the lingering deaths," The New York Times reports, citing experts and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. The share of older Americans dying started dropping as soon as they became eligible for the vaccine, and the sharpest drops in deaths are among white people 75 and older and Asian Americans under 30. Half of all U.S. deaths are now among people 50 to 74, a group that made up a third of U.S. deaths in December, the Times reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Nursing homes still account for about 7 percent of all U.S. COVID-19 deaths, even as such deaths have dropped more than 90 percent since December, the Times reports. Geographically, "while there is no longer a large epicenter, death rates are still high in small pockets across the nation." Read more about who is still dying from COVID-19 in the U.S., and view illustrative charts, at The New York Times.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Texas dairy worker gets bird flu from infected cow
Speed Read The virus has been spreading among cattle in Texas, Kansas, Michigan and New Mexico
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Dengue hits the Americas hard and early
Speed Read Puerto Rico has declared an epidemic as dengue cases surge
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Covid four years on: have we got over the pandemic?
Today's Big Question Brits suffering from both lockdown nostalgia and collective trauma that refuses to go away
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
US bans final type of asbestos
Speed Read Exposure to asbestos causes about 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The hollow classroom
Opinion Remote school let kids down. It will take much more than extra tutoring for kids to recover.
By Mark Gimein Published
-
Excess screen time is making children only see what is in front of them
Under the radar The future is looking blurry. And very nearsighted.
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Covid-19: what to know about UK's new Juno and Pirola variants
in depth Rapidly spreading new JN.1 strain is 'yet another reminder that the pandemic is far from over'
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Long-term respiratory illness is here to stay
The Explainer Covid is not the only disease with a long version
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published