COVID-19 was the No. 1 killer of Americans age 35 to 54 last month, and No. 2 overall

COVID-19 was the No. 1 leading cause of death in the U.S. in January, at the peak of last winter's brutal coronavirus surge, but then vaccines became widely available and it dropped to No. 7 by July, the Kaiser Family Foundation says in a new analysis of COVID-19 fatalities. Then the Delta variant hit and found ample unvaccinated Americans to kick COVID-19 back up to the No. 2 killer in August and September, the leading cause of death for Americans age 35 to 54, and even the sixth or seventh leading cause of death for children.
In September, "COVID-19 took the lives of 1,899 people per day on average," KFF writes. "By comparison, heart disease, which is typically the No. 1 cause of death in the U.S. each year, leads to the death of about 2,000 Americans per day, and cancer claims about 1,600 American lives per day." Deaths are declining now, but "an average of over 1,600 people per day continued to die of COVID-19 in the first week of October," KFF said, "even as safe and effective vaccines have been free and widely available to adults in all states and D.C. since early May."
KFF also calculated that about 90,000 Americans who died of COVID-19 from June through September would still be alive if they had gotten vaccinated, including 49,000 people in September alone. "The overwhelming majority of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths continue to be preventable," KFF says.
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.
As of Oct. 7, about 78 percent of U.S. adults 18 and older have gotten at least one vaccine dose, KFF says, and more than 50 million adults remain unvaccinated. "In the first months after the vaccine rollout, Black Americans were far less likely than white Americans to be vaccinated," The New York Times reports. "But a wave of pro-vaccine campaigns and a surge of virus hospitalizations and deaths this summer, mostly among the unvaccinated and caused by the highly contagious Delta variant, have narrowed the gap," erasing it in low-vaccination states like Alabama, North Carolina, and Mississippi.
If Mississippi — where 1 of every 300 residents has died of COVID 19 — were a country, it would have the world's third-highest per capita death rate, Times reporter Mike Baker noted. He also estimates that nearly 500,000 fewer Americans would have died of COVID-19 if the U.S. had managed to keep its fatality rate on par with Canada.
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.
-
AI is creating a luxury housing renaissance in San Francisco
Under the Radar Luxury homes in the city can range from $7 million to above $20 million
-
How carbon credits could help and hurt the climate
The explainer The credits could be allowing polluters to continue polluting
-
5 tips for building a healthy skincare routine for tweens and teens
The Week Recommends Social media is pushing overly elaborate routines for young skin
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, change
Speed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panel
speed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kids
Speed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sick
speed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last year
speed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive order
speed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
-
RFK Jr.: A new plan for sabotaging vaccines
Feature The Health Secretary announced changes to vaccine testing and asks Americans to 'do your own research'
-
Unraveling autism: RFK Jr.'s vow to find a root cause
Feature RFK Jr. has vowed to find the root cause of the 'autism epidemic' in months. Scientists have doubts.