Are nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the US now among those who are unvaccinated?
An Associated Press analysis of available government figures shows nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. now involve people who weren’t vaccinated.
The analysis of data from May shows only about 150 of the more than 18,000 COVID-19 deaths were in fully vaccinated people. That translates to about 0.8%, or five deaths per day on average.
The figures provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also showed that “breakthrough” infections in fully vaccinated people accounted for fewer than 1,200 of more than 107,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations in May. That’s about 1.1%.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the vaccine is so effective that “nearly every death, especially among adults, due to COVID-19, is, at this point, entirely preventable.” She called such deaths “particularly tragic.”