As we inch closer toward the end of the second year of the COVID-19 era, it’s mind-wreckingly frustrating to see some still actively downplaying it all. This is especially true when seeing stats-focused updates like the one making the rounds early Wednesday.
Johns Hopkins University stats and U.S. Census data, per a USA Todayreport, shows that one of every 500 Americans has now died from COVID-19. The country recorded a death toll equal to about 0.2 percent of the total population with the recent confirmation of the 662,899th death. Of those, roughly half have occurred since shortly before the 2020 holiday season.
Focus as of late has remained on continuing to battle against the spread of misinformation while also keeping the general public informed of variant-related developments. Misinformation regarding vaccines, despite accurate information on them being undeniably easy to find, remains a problem that has slowed the country’s path to a higher overall vaccination rate.
In a CNN interview this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci—President Biden’s chief medical advisor—reiterated his stance that the “only way” to fight against the spread of false pandemic claims is to help in the spreading of accurate information. At the time, Fauci was appearing on the network to offer “a resounding no” when asked if there was any validity to recent vaccine-related claims from Nicki Minaj.
CDC data as of Sept. 14 shows that 54 percent of the total U.S. population is fully vaccinated. Just over 63 percent, meanwhile, has received at least one dose. Still not vaccinated? Fix that.
