-
1/8
FILE - In this Feb. 10, 2021, file photo, Vera Eskridge, 86, right, is escorted into the waiting area by registered nurse Angelo Bautista after getting her COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site set up in the parking lot of the Los Angeles Mission in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles. States are working quickly get the coronavirus vaccine into people’s arms after last week’s icy storms, freezing temperatures and widespread power outages closed clinics and slowed vaccine deliveries nationwide. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
-
2/8
FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2021, file photo, a pharmacist prepares a syringe with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination site at NYC Health + Hospitals Metropolitan in New York. States are working quickly get the coronavirus vaccine into people’s arms after last week’s icy storms, freezing temperatures and widespread power outages closed clinics and slowed vaccine deliveries nationwide. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
-
3/8
FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2021, file photo, people receive the COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Las Vegas. States are working quickly get the coronavirus vaccine into people’s arms after last week’s icy storms, freezing temperatures and widespread power outages closed clinics and slowed vaccine deliveries nationwide. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
-
4/8
California Gov. Gavin Newsom takes questions from the media during a visit to a mobile vaccination site at Ramona Gardens Recreation Center in Los Angeles, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021. California's new system of delivering and scheduling coronavirus vaccines is being rolled out in select counties. It's the first step in Newsom's plan to smooth out what has been a disjointed vaccine rollout hampered by limited national supply. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
-
5/8
FILE - In this Feb. 5, 2021, file photo, Dr. Ingrid Felix-Peralta, second from left, and her husband Dr. Victor Peralta, second from right, administer second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in New York. States are working quickly get the coronavirus vaccine into people’s arms after last week’s icy storms, freezing temperatures and widespread power outages closed clinics and slowed vaccine deliveries nationwide. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
-
-
6/8
FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2021, file photo, a LabCorp worker, second from right, greets a person, right, at an entrance to a COVID-19 vaccination site in Natick, Mass. States are working quickly get the coronavirus vaccine into people’s arms after last week’s icy storms, freezing temperatures and widespread power outages closed clinics and slowed vaccine deliveries nationwide. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
-
7/8
FILE - In this Feb. 19, 2021, file photo, traffic cones line around the empty parking lot of Dodger Stadium, a mass COVID-19 vaccination in Los Angeles. California closed some vaccination centers and delayed appointments following winter storms elsewhere in the country that hampered the shipment of doses. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
-
8/8
People wait in line for the opening of a 24-hour, walk-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic hosted by the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium at Temple University's Liacouras Center in Philadelphia. States are working quickly get the coronavirus vaccine into people’s arms after last week’s icy storms, freezing temperatures and widespread power outages closed clinics and slowed vaccine deliveries nationwide. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
The COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. topped 500,000 Monday, all but matching the number of Americans killed in World War II, Korea and Vietnam combined.
The lives lost, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, are about equal to the population of Kansas City, Missouri, and greater than that of Miami; Raleigh, North Carolina; or Omaha, Nebraska.
And despite the rollout of vaccines since mid-December, a closely watched model from the University of Washington projects more than 589,000 dead by June 1.
The U.S. toll is by far the highest reported in the world, and the true numbers are thought to be significantly greater, in part because of the many cases that were overlooked, especially early in the outbreak.
Average daily deaths and cases have plummeted in the past few weeks, but experts warn that dangerous variants could cause the trend to reverse itself.
Some experts say not enough Americans have been inoculated yet for the vaccine to be making much of a difference.
Instead, the drop-off in deaths and cases has been attributed to the passing of the holidays; the cold and bleak days of midwinter, when many people are inclined to stay home; and better adherence to mask rules and social distancing.
The first known deaths from the virus in the U.S. happened in early February 2020. It took four months to reach the first 100,000 dead. The toll hit 200,000 deaths in September and 300,000 in December. Then it took just over a month to go from 300,000 to 400,000 and about two months to climb from 400,000 to the brink of 500,000.
The U.S. recorded an estimated 405,000 deaths in World War II, 58,000 in the Vietnam War and 36,000 in the Korean War.
