COVID-19, Third-leading Cause of Death in the United States in 2021; Should Parents be Worried?

COVID-19 coronavirus CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID Death Rates COVID Death Tally

By Joel Brussels , Parent Herald Apr 25, 11:54 am

Photo: (Photo : Scott Olson/Getty Images)

COVID-19 was the third-leading cause of death in the United States for the second year in a row, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday, April 22.

The report found that COVID-19 was the underlying cause of more than 415,000 deaths in 2021 in the U.S., which is equivalent to 13 percent of the national total. That is an increase from 10 percent in 2020. Covid death rates increased among every age group last year per capita except those in the 85 and older age bracket.

The only medical conditions that killed more people than Covid in both 2020 and 2021 were heart disease, which caused 693,000 deaths in the United States last year, and cancer, which caused 605,000 deaths in 2021.

Suicide ranked 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2021

It is important to mention that the data provided is provisional, so the figures could still change as the CDC collects more information. The coronavirus death tally also does not include 45,000 deaths for which COVID-19 was a contributing factor rather than an underlying cause.

The United States saw its highest overall age-adjusted death rate since 2003 last year, with nearly 842 deaths per 100,000 people, which is a slight increase from the numbers in 2020. An early analysis, which has not yet been peer reviewed, showed that the life expectancy in the U.S. dropped even further in 2021, following a loss of around two years back in 2020.

Although pneumonia and flu together ranked as the ninth leading cause of death back in 2020, they dropped out of the top 10 last year. Suicide entered the top 10 in 2021, becoming the 10th leading cause of death last year, which is up from 12th the year prior.

According to a report by WebMD, COVID death rates in 2021 were highest among men, older Americans, American Indian and Alaska Native populations, and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. Year over year, however, COVID death rates declined among Black, Asian and Hispanic people.

Overall, about 3,458,697 deaths were reported in the United States in 2021. COVID deaths last year peaked for the weeks ending January 16 and September 11, following holiday periods in the country.

COVID deaths grew among white Americans in 2021

The total number of Black Americans who died because of COVID-19 dropped from 56,000 in 2020 to 55,000 people last year. Meanwhile, COVID deaths among white people in the United States grew from 209,000 to 268,000 people.

According to a second CDC report, ethnic and racial disparities in age-adjusted COVID death rates overall, narrowed from 2020 to 2021. This particular report compared the death rates of various groups to that of multiracial people, who had the lowest death rate in the years 2020 and 2021.

According to a report by NBC News, the results revealed that the gap decreased for all groups except Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians in 2021. The researchers in charge of the study attributed this change to "the widespread impact of effective interventions, including vaccination."