Florida's preventable COVID deaths
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Vaccinations could have prevented 56% of Florida's COVID-19 deaths between January 2021 and April 2022. That's based on a new analysis by Brown University's School of Public Health.
Driving the news: Researchers created a model illustrating what could have happened if 100% of adult Americans got fully vaccinated and boosted after the shots became available.
- The study used data from the CDC and the New York Times while considering variables such as supply and vaccine effectiveness over time.
The big picture: Nationwide, COVID vaccines could have prevented roughly 319,000 deaths, nearly half of those occurring during the study's time frame, Axios' Tina Reed reports.
- The news comes as the country's overall recorded death toll hit 1 million people on Monday, per the AP. That includes more than 74,000 in Florida.
Zoom in: Florida ranks No. 13 in the country, with 1.69 vaccine-preventable deaths per 1 million people.
- 77% of Florida adults are fully vaccinated but just 42% have received a booster shot.
What they're saying: "The vaccine rollout has been both a remarkable success and a remarkable failure," Stefanie Friedhoff, one of the analysis' authors, told NPR.
- While the U.S. was able to get a large vaccine supply rolled out quickly, the shots are useless if they're not going into arms, she said.
The bottom line: As COVID immunity wanes over time and the virus continues to mutate, vaccines and boosters remain our best tools for fighting off new waves of infections.
- Officials must remain committed to increasing vaccine demand, the study's authors say.
Bonus: Listen to The Daily's somber remembrance as the U.S. passed the grim milestone.
