As of last month, nearly all people who die from COVID-19 are unvaccinated, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data analyzed by the Associated Press.
Daily deaths related to the novel coronavirus in the U.S. reached a peak of 3,400 in mid-January, said the outlet. Data from May showed that number was down to 300. Approximately 63 percent of all vaccine-eligible Americans over age 12 have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and another 53 percent are fully vaccinated.
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Vaccination is the key reason for death numbers decreasing and it could reduce deaths to almost zero, said the Associated Press.
“They are nearly 100 percent effective against severe disease and death -- meaning nearly every death due to COVID-19 is particularly tragic, because nearly every death, especially among adults, due to COVID-19 is at this point entirely preventable,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky of the vaccines Tuesday during a White House briefing, according to CNN.
Andy Slavitt, who formerly served as an adviser to the Biden administration, previously said that around 99 percent of recent COVID-19 deaths were among the unvaccinated.
“While vaccine remains scarce in much of the world, the U.S.
supply is so abundant and demand has slumped so dramatically that shots sit unused,” according to the Associated Press. The U.S. Department of State Friday announced it had transported 3 million vaccines does to Brazil.
Anti-vaccine sentiments may be contributing to the U.S. vaccine glut.
According to Politico, Arkansas, Florida, Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah have enacted legislation to limit COVID-19 shot mandates, at least 11 states have banned the use of vaccine passports and another 31 states at minimum are considering similar legislation.
Experts think the new legislation will make it harder to quell the pandemic and prevent future outbreaks of COVID-19 and other illnesses, Politico said.
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In fact, Arkansas has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation – only about 33 percent of the population fully protected – and both hospitalizations and deaths are rising there, said the Associated Press.
Apart from anti-vaccine legislation, some unvaccinated people have waited to get time off from work to deal with symptoms and others are concerned about breakthrough infections. However, the Associated Press said those cases are rare, about 0.1 percent of all COVID-19 hospitalizations.
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Other studies have also found that severe side effects related to the vaccines, such as inflammatory heart conditions, are rare.
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