Covid-19 killed as many Americans as the Spanish flu of 1918



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In this October 19, 1918 file photo provided by the US Naval History and Heritage Command, a sign is displayed at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia that indicates that the Spanish flu was extremely active at the time.

In this October 19, 1918 file photo provided by the US Naval History and Heritage Command, a sign is displayed at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia that indicates that the Spanish flu was extremely active at the time.
Photo: US Naval History and Heritage Command (PA)

The covid-19 pandemic has killed more than 676,000 Americans, exceeding the estimated number of deaths in the United States from the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918. And despite the increase in vaccination rates, it appears that Covid-19 going to kill a lot more Americans before this thing is over.

The United States reported 208,713 new cases of covid-19 on Monday, with 2,262 new deaths from the disease, with startling numbers mostly due to unvaccinated Americans helping to spread the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus.

As NPR points out, the American population was about a third in 1918 of what it is today, meaning that a larger percentage of the population was wiped out by the Spanish Flu. But covid-19 is far from over and still has plenty of time to kill more people.

The Spanish flu pandemic, which toured the world about four times in 1918 and 1919, killed around 675,000 Americans before it died out. It is estimated that 100,000 more Americans are expected to die by the end of 2021, based on modeling of the Washington University, which means the U.S. death toll will likely be around 776000 by January 1, 2022.

The United States started off with a huge lead over the rest of the world in early 2021 with one of the best vaccination rates, along with the United Kingdom and Israel. But US vaccinations against covid-19 have largely leveled off as other countries around the world have taken the lead in recent months.

The United States had the 18th best the covid-19 vaccination rate worldwide in July, but fell to 40th place in Last week. Only 55.36% of Americans have been fully immunized, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The southern United States has the worst vaccination rates in the country, with states like Alabama showing some of the worst death rates as a percentage of the population in recent months. Alabama reported 1,920 new cases of covid-19 for Monday alone and has a seven-day moving average of 76 deaths per day. Only 41.63% of Alabama’s population is fully vaccine.

More people in Alabama have died than were born in 2020, all thanks to the covid-19 pandemic, a grim figure that is a first in the state recorded history. The state recorded 64,714 deaths from all causes in 2020 and 57,641 births, according to NPR.

But there was no vaccine for most of 2020. There is a vaccine available for free to fight the covid-19 pandemic and if you haven’t received it yet, you really should. We have no more excuses.

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