Mar 7, 2022 - Health

Global COVID death toll tops 6 million

Oriana González

Picture of candles taken at night with the White House in the background — People on Jan. 13, 2022 walk past electric candles from a vigil in Lafayette Park for nurses who died during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

The global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic surpassed 6 million on Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The big picture: As the pandemic enters its third year, deaths from the virus are now largely seen among mostly unvaccinated people, AP reports.

The risk of dying from the virus in the U.S. was 41 times higher for unvaccinated adults in December than for adults who were fully vaccinated and boosted, per data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.S. has recorded the most confirmed deaths, with more than 958,000 people dying from the virus, followed by Brazil and India, which recorded 652,400 and 515,100 COVID deaths, respectively.

Between the lines: The actual number of deaths is believed to be higher due to possible data concealment, poor record-keeping and cases that were overlooked early in the pandemic.

Go deeper: The health worker shortage is starting to get real for Americans

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Global COVID death toll tops 6 million

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