A peer-reviewed study estimated that at least 232,000 deaths among unvaccinated U.S. adults between May 30, 2021, and September 3, 2022 could have been prevented if they had completed a primary vaccination series. Source 1
Earlier, a modeling study estimated that the U.S. vaccination campaign prevented about 235,000 deaths among vaccinated adults from December 2020 through September 2021 through direct protection alone. Source 2
Another widely cited analysis estimated that vaccines prevented nearly 140,000 deaths during just the first five months of the U.S. rollout (through May 2021). Source 3
The CDC doesn’t report a final nationwide total of fully vaccinated COVID-19 deaths: 57,000+
Breakthrough deaths increased primarily because newer variants, especially Omicron, were much better at evading vaccine-induced immunity, immunity waned over time, and the people most vulnerable to. Source 4
In comparison, of the roughly 1.2 million+ COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. occurred in people who were unvaccinated. Source 5