More than a half a million Americans have died from the flu since the beginning of the year.
According to data compiled by the University, 800,266 people have died in the US. The country has surpassed 50 million infections of COVID-19, the highest number of infections in the world.
More people have died from COVID-19 in the year 2021, than in the year 2020, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 385,000 COVID-19 deaths were reported in 2020, compared to 410,000 so far this year.
According to CDC data, only 61% of the US population is fully vaccineed, and only 27.2% have gotten a booster shot.
The majority of the people who died from COVID-19 were unvaccinated. The Kaiser Family Foundation and the Peterson Center on healthcare found that 163,000 deaths could have been prevented by vaccination.
The World Health Organization named the Omicron variant a variant of concern last month. The variant is highly transmissible according to a major study. It could be more resistant to protection provided by vaccines.
Most of the symptoms of those who have been reported in the US with the variant have been less severe, according to the director of the CDC.
Experts, including top US disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, are still encouraging Americans to get a vaccine.
