The death toll from Covid-19 in the United States approaches 400,000

The coronavirus death toll in the United States was set to hit 400,000 on Monday, according to an NBC News tally, a milestone that seemed unimaginable at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic a year ago.

More than 2 million people have been killed by the virus worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The death toll in the United States is the worst in the world, even though it represents less than 5% of the world’s population.

The United States confirmed its first case of the virus in Seattle on January 21, 2020.

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Almost a year later, 24 million people have been infected in the United States, the highest number of confirmed cases in the world. California became the first state to hit 3 million cases on Monday, and Los Angeles County crossed the one million case mark over the weekend, according to an NBC News tally.

The number of people killed is much higher than expected at the start of the pandemic.

Dr Deborah Birx, coronavirus coordinator at the White House, warned in April that as many as 240,000 Americans could die from the coronavirus even if containment measures were followed “almost perfectly”. President Donald Trump called the estimated record “disappointing” and has since been criticized for first downplaying the threat posed by the virus and then spoiling the federal government’s response.

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As U.S. health officials rushed to vaccinate as many vulnerable people as possible, Covid-19 continued to spread at record rates across the country, with the United States facing risk of the spread of new strains mutant viruses from the UK, Brazil and South Africa as well as new strains emerging in the US

As of Monday, nearly 12.3 million doses of the vaccine had been administered in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But in California, state epidemiologist Dr Erica Pan recommended that providers withhold doses from a batch of Moderna vaccine while they investigate reports of possible allergic reactions.

“Fewer than 10 people required medical attention in a 24-hour period,” said Pan, adding that they are appealing “out of extreme caution and also recognizing the extremely limited supply of vaccines.”

President-elect Joe Biden said last week he would deploy the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Guard to help set up immunization clinics across the United States as part of an ambitious plan aimed at vaccinating millions of Americans.

Corky Siemaszko contributed.