In less than a year, U.S. deaths from COVID-19 have surpassed the number of Americans killed in World War II, a staggering figure still likely to rise. According to the National WWII Museum, 407,316 American soldiers were killed in the entirety of the war, and according to data from Johns Hopkins University, 408,011 Americans have now died of the coronavirus in under a year. The U.S. reached 200,000 deaths in September. Though a swiftly developed vaccine promised to curb the pandemic, disorganization has plagued its rollout and slowed immunization as fatalities continue to pile up. President Joe Biden has announced a legislative plan to tackle the virus but has also said, “Things will get worse before they get better.” Former President Donald Trump repeatedly said the country is “rounding the corner” on the pandemic as it has worsened.
