US approaches 600,000 Covid-19 deaths

Washington, Jun 14 (EFE).- The United States was on the verge Monday of an accumulated 600,000 deaths from Covid-19, a grim reminder of the toll taken by the disease amid encouraging declines in fatalities and new infections.

The number of lives cut short by coronavirus in the US stood at 599,796, according to the independent tally kept by researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

Brazil, with nearly 488,000 fatalities, has the second-highest death toll.

Over the 14 days ending Sunday, new cases were being detected at the rate of 14,288 per day, the fewest in a year. Covid-19 deaths averaged 363 a day, the lowest level since the pandemic took hold in the US in March 2020.

The positive trends are due to widespread vaccination.

After getting under way hesitantly last December, the campaign gathered speed and by the end of April, more than 3 million people a day were getting shots.

In recent weeks, however, vaccinations have dropped to barely a million a day nationwide.

“The only issue, Madam Mayor, is, we’ve got to do better with younger people,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said last Friday at an event hosted by District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Young people need to understand that getting vaccinated is about protecting not just themselves and their families, but the wider community, Fauci said.

Late last month, President Joe Biden’s administration announced that it had formed a partnership with dating apps, including Tinder, OKCupid and Match, to incentivize vaccination.

More than 139 million people – 54.1 percent of the US adult population – have been fully vaccinated, while 64.4 percent have had at least one dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

But the CDC figures show significant disparities among regions.

While more than two-thirds of people in states such as Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey are fully vaccinated, the proportion falls to around 35 percent in Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana.

Biden has set a goal of having 70 percent of adults with at least one dose in time for the celebration of US Independence Day on July 4. EFE

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