COVID deaths were cut nearly in half in 2022, but disease is still a top killer, especially in the South

The national COVID-19 death rate fell by nearly 50% in 2022 compared to the prior year, a decline that has been credited to widespread vaccinations as well as a rise in natural immunity following the first omicron surge.

There were 244,986 deaths in the U.S. that listed COVID-19 as the underlying or contributing cause, down 47% from 2021 when 462,193 deaths were reported, according to an analysis of provisional death certificate data published Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number excludes residents of U.S. territories and foreign countries.

The early months of 2022 included the second-deadliest surge of COVID-19, as the first omicron wave sent the extraordinarily contagious variant seemingly everywhere in