US passes 800,000 Covid-19 deaths despite availability of vaccines

The true death toll in the US and around the world is believed to be significantly higher because of cases that were overlooked or concealed

The US death toll from Covid-19 topped 800,000 on Tuesday, a figure seen as doubly tragic given more than 200,000 of those lives were lost after the vaccine became widely available last year. Picture: Nam Y Huh/AP

The US death toll from Covid-19 topped 800,000 on Tuesday, a figure seen as doubly tragic given more than 200,000 of those lives were lost after the vaccine became widely available last year.

The number of deaths, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal to the population of Atlanta and St Louis combined, or Minneapolis and Cleveland put together. It is also roughly equivalent to how many Americans die each year from heart disease or stroke.