US Hits 'Tragic,' 'Completely Avoidable' COVID Milestone

Hospitals in crisis mode are starting to see some relief as COVID case numbers driven by a summer surge of the delta variant start to decrease, but the US has reached its "latest heartbreaking pandemic milestone" nonetheless: more than 700,000 deaths, a number bigger than the population of Boston, reports the AP. That figure was exceeded on Friday, with the latest 100,000 deaths coming over the past three and a half months. The AP notes the frustration being felt by medical professionals and public health officials, as vaccines are now widely available to the American public and can help cut down on hospitalizations and deaths.

"Reaching 700,000 deaths is a tragic and completely avoidable milestone," Boston Children's Hospital epidemiologist John Brownstein tells ABC News, which notes that figure may even be a significant undercount, per some experts. "We had the knowledge and the tools to prevent this from happening, and unfortunately, politics, lack of urgency, and mistrust in science got us here." The AP notes that about 117 million Americans have yet to be vaccinated, including 70 million who are now eligible to get the shot.

According to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, individuals who haven't been fully vaccinated are eight times more likely to be infected, 41 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 57 times more likely to die, per ABC. The unvaccinated population also serves as a sort of "kindling" for variants, the AP notes—and could eventually lead to a variant that's significantly resistant to the vaccines.

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There is some good news: As case numbers start sliding, hospitalizations are also on the decline: In early September, there were more than 93,000 people hospitalized with COVID. Now, there are about 75,000. Meanwhile, while Johns Hopkins figures still hover around 4.8 million, a Reuters tally says the planet as a whole reached its own grim milestone on Friday: more than 5 million dead. The outlet says it took more than a year for the death toll to reach the first 2.5 million, but just eight months to reach the second. (More COVID-19 stories.)