Almost all of the people who are dying from COVID-19 now are unvaccinated.
The Associated Press reports that the number of deaths per day has declined to fewer than 300 a day. Data analyzed from May reveals that “breakthrough” infections—people who are fully vaccinated and have the virus—make up less than 1,200 of the current 853,000 COVID hospitalizations, or 0.1 percent of hospitalizations.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said this week that the vaccines are “nearly 100% effective against severe disease and death,” adding that “nearly every death, especially among adults, due to COVID-19, is, at this point, entirely preventable.” She also called these deaths “particularly tragic.”
Of the 18,000-plus people who died in May from the virus, 150 were completely vaccinated, or 0.8 percent of deaths. With 63 percent of U.S. adults vaccinated with at least one dose—and 53 percent now fully vaccinated—Joe Biden has almost met his July 4 goal of having 70 percent of U.S. adults partially or fully vaccinated.
What is happening across the nation is also reflected in Los Angeles, where cases are climbing. On Thursday, L.A. Public Health revealed that 99.8 percent of COVID deaths from December 2020 to June 2021 have stemmed from unvaccinated people. “After a period of persistent declines in many metrics, L.A. County is starting to see small increases in cases, hospitalizations, and daily test positivity,” L.A. Public Health said. “This is a signal that the virus is still here and that even now everyone needs to be careful to mask and maintain a distance from people outside your households, if not yet vaccinated.”
