This updated analysis estimates that nationally at least 234,000 deaths from COVID-19 between June 2021 and March 2022 could have been prevented with a primary series of vaccinations. These vaccine-preventable deaths represent 60% of all adult COVID-19 deaths since June 2021, when vaccines first became widely available to adults across the country, and a quarter (24%) of the nearly 1 million COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began.
While it is clear that vaccine effectiveness increases with booster shots, the analysis does not estimate the potential effect of booster protection here on COVID-19 deaths. If it had, it likely would have found additional deaths among unvaccinated adults, as well as some deaths among vaccinated, could have been prevented.
The analysis can be found on the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, an information hub dedicated to monitoring and assessing the performance of the U.S. health system.
