By Landon Gray
COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States in 2020 and 2021, according to an analysis of national death certificate data by researchers at the National Cancer Institute.
Over the 20-month period analyzed, COVID-19 was responsible for one in eight deaths¬ (350,000) in the United States, and in every age group 15 years and older, COVID-19 appeared in the top five causes of death during this period. COVID-19 was only surpassed in mortality by heart disease and cancer, which accounted for nearly 1.3 million deaths combined.
In a separate analysis of March to December 2020 and January to October 2021, researchers discovered that COVID-19 was the fourth and fifth leading causes of death in the age groups 45 to 54 and 35 to 44 years, respectively, in 2020. However, In 2021, COVID-19 rose to the first and second leading causes of death in these age groups.
Among individuals aged 85 years and older, COVID-19 was the second most reported cause of death in 2020, but dropped to the No. 3 spot in 2021, possibly due to the targeted vaccination efforts for older adults.
The researchers also stated that the pandemic has had an indirect effect on various causes of death in the United States. Based on past data, the number of reported deaths from other causes—heart disease, accidents, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes—increased from 2019 to 2020. They said this was likely because people were hesitant to seek medical care for fear of catching COVID-19 in healthcare provider settings.
The National Institutes of Health, which released the findings, advised that additional impacts of the pandemic on other causes may emerge in the future.
