August 2021 was one of the deadliest months in America since the coronavirus pandemic began.
A total of 26,805 people across the nation died from COVID-19 in August, more than three times as many people who died in July, according to an analysis by USA Today.
At that rate, the analysis shows that one person was dying from the coronavirus every 1 minute, 5 seconds. It's an average of 864 deaths a day.
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COVID-19 was actually the third leading cause of death in the U.S. for the month of August, behind only heart disease and cancer. In July, the coronavirus was the eighth leading cause of death.
Also in August, almost 4.22 million new coronavirus cases were reported -- making it the fourth-worst month for cases since the pandemic began. Every minute, another 111 Americans are testing positive, nearly two per second, according to the analysis.
The numbers are especially grim in Florida, which recorded its worst month for deaths in the entire pandemic with 4,900 people dying in August.
Several states also recorded their worst month ever for cases in August, according to USA Today, including Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon and Washington.
Health officials say the more infectious COVID-19 Delta variant and insufficient vaccination rates are the main contributors to cases and deaths increasing again.
Just over 74% of adults in the U.S. have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and 63.5% are considered fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Vaccination rates actually increased in August, according to White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeffrey Zients. During a briefing on Tuesday, Zients said about 14 million people received their first vaccine dose in August, which is about 4 million more than in July.
"Back in mid-July, we were averaging 500,000 vaccinations per day. Today, we're averaging 900,000," Zients said. "That's an 80 percent increase in the number of shots we're getting into arms each and every day."
The U.S. death toll from the pandemic is 637,385 people -- the highest number of deaths officially reported by any country in the world. The U.S. also has reported the most infections across the globe at 39.1 million.
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