At least half a million people have now died from COVID-19 in the U.S., according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.

Though deployment of the coronavirus vaccine promises fewer cases and a lower death toll soon, the pace of deaths is still high; the last 100,000 deaths occurred in just over a month .

Half a million deaths by far the highest death toll for any country is equivalent to about 1 in 650 Americans dying from a disease thats been circulating across the nation for nearly a year. The number of deaths equals the entire population of Atlanta, Miami or Kansas City, Missouri.