a322x1n
2021-10-07 17:55:52 UTC
<https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/johns-hopkins-data-more-people-
in-us-have-died-so-far-this-year-from-covid-19-than-last-year/ar-AAPdsge?
ocid=msedgntp>
<https://tinyurl.com/z5rs3m9s>
Johns Hopkins data: More people in US have died so far this year from
COVID-19 than last year. Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 19 hrs
ago.
COVID-19 has already killed more people in the United States this year
than it did in 2020.
Since Jan. 1, more than 353,000 deaths have been reported from COVID-19,
about a thousand more than last years 352,000 for the first 10 months
of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
There are key differences between the two years that could account for
some of the shift, medical experts said.
Florida International University professor and Department of
Epidemiology chairwoman Dr. Mary Jo Trepka told the New York Daily News
that the much more contagious delta variant upped the number of cases,
making cumulative totals much higher. That was compounded by the lack of
herd immunity because of low vaccine uptake.
So there were a lot of people being exposed, in the face of not really
having herd immunity anywhere, and having the delta variant, which is
much more contagious, Trepka told the Daily News.
In addition, she noted, widespread vaccination was not available till
the spring, and this years biggest surge was in January, after the
holidays. Also, unlike 2020, this year did not see widespread lockdowns.
The coronavirus doesnt really know what year it is, noted Dr. David
Dowdy, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health. And the death has largely come in
waves.
Tellingly, the biggest wave of 2020 was just after the holidays, before
the vaccines were widely available.
Comparing the caseload to the number of deaths is also key, Trepka said.
The more cases you get, the more deaths youre going to have, she
said, though that also depends on who gets sick. Elderly or medically
vulnerable people have a higher chance of serious illness and a higher
death rate.
Theres a certain risk of death in all age groups, so the more cases
you have the more deaths therell be, Trepka said.
The delta variant also changed the vaccination rate needed for herd
immunity, Trepka noted.
Were hoping that we can improve vaccination rates so that we dont get
another sizable surge like we had this summer, she said. The level of
vaccination that you need to get herd immunity depends on the pathogen.
When you have something thats very communicable, you have to vaccinate
a much higher percentage of the population to get herd immunity.
Thus both Trepka and Dowdy said, increasing vaccination rates is
critical to stave off yet another deadly wave.
I think it is fair to say that had we been better about vaccinating the
population before this most recent wave, we could have averted a
substantial number of those deaths, Dowdy told the Daily News,
referring to the summer high, mostly among unvaccinated people, that is
starting to ebb.
Its still true that even now a third of our adult population is not
fully vaccinated, and so we still have a large number of people youre
talking over 50 million people who are at risk of getting really sick
from this disease and potentially dying, Dowdy said. If we were able
to get those people vaccinated, that would bring the risk of death from
this disease down to not to nothing, but to a very manageable level.
in-us-have-died-so-far-this-year-from-covid-19-than-last-year/ar-AAPdsge?
ocid=msedgntp>
<https://tinyurl.com/z5rs3m9s>
Johns Hopkins data: More people in US have died so far this year from
COVID-19 than last year. Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 19 hrs
ago.
COVID-19 has already killed more people in the United States this year
than it did in 2020.
Since Jan. 1, more than 353,000 deaths have been reported from COVID-19,
about a thousand more than last years 352,000 for the first 10 months
of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
There are key differences between the two years that could account for
some of the shift, medical experts said.
Florida International University professor and Department of
Epidemiology chairwoman Dr. Mary Jo Trepka told the New York Daily News
that the much more contagious delta variant upped the number of cases,
making cumulative totals much higher. That was compounded by the lack of
herd immunity because of low vaccine uptake.
So there were a lot of people being exposed, in the face of not really
having herd immunity anywhere, and having the delta variant, which is
much more contagious, Trepka told the Daily News.
In addition, she noted, widespread vaccination was not available till
the spring, and this years biggest surge was in January, after the
holidays. Also, unlike 2020, this year did not see widespread lockdowns.
The coronavirus doesnt really know what year it is, noted Dr. David
Dowdy, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health. And the death has largely come in
waves.
Tellingly, the biggest wave of 2020 was just after the holidays, before
the vaccines were widely available.
Comparing the caseload to the number of deaths is also key, Trepka said.
The more cases you get, the more deaths youre going to have, she
said, though that also depends on who gets sick. Elderly or medically
vulnerable people have a higher chance of serious illness and a higher
death rate.
Theres a certain risk of death in all age groups, so the more cases
you have the more deaths therell be, Trepka said.
The delta variant also changed the vaccination rate needed for herd
immunity, Trepka noted.
Were hoping that we can improve vaccination rates so that we dont get
another sizable surge like we had this summer, she said. The level of
vaccination that you need to get herd immunity depends on the pathogen.
When you have something thats very communicable, you have to vaccinate
a much higher percentage of the population to get herd immunity.
Thus both Trepka and Dowdy said, increasing vaccination rates is
critical to stave off yet another deadly wave.
I think it is fair to say that had we been better about vaccinating the
population before this most recent wave, we could have averted a
substantial number of those deaths, Dowdy told the Daily News,
referring to the summer high, mostly among unvaccinated people, that is
starting to ebb.
Its still true that even now a third of our adult population is not
fully vaccinated, and so we still have a large number of people youre
talking over 50 million people who are at risk of getting really sick
from this disease and potentially dying, Dowdy said. If we were able
to get those people vaccinated, that would bring the risk of death from
this disease down to not to nothing, but to a very manageable level.