More than 150,000 uncounted COVID-19 deaths occurred early in the pandemic, a study finds

The COVID-19 pandemic's early death toll was much higher than the official U.S. count, according to a new study that spotlights dramatic disparities in the uncounted deaths. About 840,000 COVID-19 deaths were reported on death certificates in 2020 and 2021. The overall findings, published Wednesday by the journal Science Advances, were close to estimates from other studies of pandemic deaths during that time.