Covid-19 death in America surpassed 800,000. That is an unimaginable number, and doubly so considering that the vaccine had become available almost immediately after they were released.

Johns Hopkins University has compiled a list of all the deaths. It is roughly equal to Atlanta, St. Louis, and Minneapolis, and Cleveland combined. This is about the same as how many Americans are killed each year due to stroke or heart disease.

United States reports the largest death toll. The U.S. accounts for approximately 4% of the world’s population but about 15% of the 5.3 million known deaths from the coronavirus since the outbreak began in China two years ago.

It is thought that the death toll from the U.S., and other countries around the globe, may actually be higher due to cases that were ignored or hidden.

The University of Washington’s forecasting model is closely monitored and projects that there will be over 880,000 deaths reported in the U.S.A by March 1.

Many of these deaths were prevented by the vaccine. This was available from mid-December last year. It became accessible for all Americans by mid-April this year.

Around 200 million Americans have been fully vaccinated. That’s just over half of the country. This is much less than what scientists believe is required to stop the spread of the virus.

“Almost all the people dying are now dying preventable deaths,” said Dr. Chris Beyrer, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “And that’s because they’re not immunized. And you know that, God, it’s a terrible tragedy.”

When the vaccine was first rolled out, the country’s death toll stood at about 300,000. The death toll was 600,000 by mid-June. It was 700,000 by Oct. 1.

U.S. cases and hospitalizations have risen again, with the most recent threshold being crossed. The spike was caused by the extremely contagious delta variant. It arrived in 2021’s first half and accounts for nearly all of the infections. Scientists aren’t sure how deadly the omicron strain is, but it has gained a foothold.

Beyrer reminded us that, in March 2020 or April 2020 the most dire scenario was a projected death rate of over 240,000 Americans.

“And I saw that number, and I thought that is incredible — 240,000 American deaths?” he said. “And we’re now past three times that number.” He added: “And I think it’s fair to say that we’re still not out of the woods.”