More than 600,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the United States, a grim reminder that even though cases are down as more people are vaccinated, the pandemic is not over.
As of Thursday evening, the country had seen at least 600,040 Covid-19 deaths, according to a count of reports by NBC News. More than 33.4 million cases have been recorded in the U.S.
The death toll crossed the 500,000 mark Feb. 21, according to NBC News’ count.
The numbers of newly identified cases of Covid-19 and deaths have decreased as more people have gotten vaccinated.
But hundreds of deaths from the disease are reported in the U.S. nearly every day (on Sunday and Monday, which was a holiday weekend, the reported deaths were more than 150 each day, according to NBC News’ count).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a summary late last week that the numbers of cases and deaths had dropped to their lowest levels in almost a year.
The agency said at the time that the number of tests that came back positive for the disease over the previous seven days was below 3 percent, one of the lowest rates since widespread testing began.
More than 136 million people in the U.S. — around 41 percent of the population — have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
Just more than 51 percent of the total population has received at least one dose, and around 63 percent of people 18 or older have gotten at least one dose, according to the CDC.
President Joe Biden has set a goal of having 70 percent of adults with at least one dose by July 4, which is almost a month away.
A number of promotions have been rolled out across the country to help encourage people to get vaccinated.
Several states have announced lottery drawings with cash prizes, and Anheuser-Busch said Wednesday that it would give Americans a credit for a free beer if the country reached the 70 percent goal by July 4.
Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.