This post may refer to COVID-19
To access official information about the coronavirus, access CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
www.cbsnews.com
More than 800,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. An estimated 163,000 could have been saved by vaccines.
The Kaiser Family Foundation estimated COVID-19's avoidable toll since June, when vaccines became widely available.
Health
As the U.S. marks one year since the first shots of COVID-19 vaccine were rolled out last December, some 28% of adults still remain unvaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Now, as the country surpassed 800,000 confirmed deaths from the disease, an analysis by the Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates 163,000 deaths could have been prevented by vaccination since vaccines became widely available in June.
"Most of these preventable deaths occurred well after vaccines became available. In September 2021 alone, approximately 51,000 people's lives likely would have been saved if they had chosen to get vaccinated. In November 2021, over 29,000 COVID-19 deaths likely would have been averted with vaccines," the authors wrote.
They estimated the number of Americans that could have been saved by vaccination by analyzing deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, as well as rates of COVID-related deaths among vaccinated people with breakthrough infections.
Earlier this year, before the recent spike in Delta variant cases and feared surge of infections from the Omicron variant, the CDC had estimated unvaccinated Americans had a 14 times higher risk of dying from COVID-19 than fully vaccinated Americans.
Another report published Tuesday by the Commonwealth Fund concluded that the vaccine rollout in the U.S. averted some 1.1 million COVID-19 deaths that otherwise would have occurred over the past year.
"We have 1,100 deaths every day still"
The emergence of the highly-mutated and fast-spreading Omicron variant has largely overshadowed plans to celebrate the vaccine anniversary, as scientists and health officials around the world are racing to respond to Omicron on top of surges fueled by the Delta variant that are already straining hospitals.
"We have 1,100 deaths every day still and we can't be cavalier about the fact that we're losing so many lives from this right now," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told "CBS Mornings" on Tuesday.