Recent US COVID-19 Deaths Have Been Largely Among the Unvaccinated, Says New Analysis

"With just over half of the U.S. population fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and two-thirds having received one dose, a clear and unambiguous trend has emerged," writes Slashdot reader quonset. "Not only have deaths plunged from approximately 3,400 per day in January to roughly 300 per day now, 98% to 99% of all COVID-19 deaths are now from people who aren't vaccinated." MarketWatch reports: An Associated Press analysis of available government data from May shows that "breakthrough" infections in fully vaccinated people accounted for fewer than 1,200 of more than 853,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations. That's about 0.1%. And only about 150 of the more than 18,000 COVID-19 deaths in May were in fully vaccinated people. That translates to about 0.8%, or five deaths per day on average.

The preventable deaths will continue, experts predict, with unvaccinated pockets of the nation experiencing outbreaks in the fall and winter. Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, said modeling suggests the nation will hit 1,000 deaths per day again next year. In Arkansas, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, with only about 33% of the population fully protected, cases, hospitalizations and deaths are rising. "It is sad to see someone go to the hospital or die when it can be prevented," Gov. Asa Hutchinson tweeted as he urged people to get their shots.

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