The U.S. surpassed 900,000 COVID-19 deaths on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University, as the country deals with the after-effects of record spread caused by the highly contagious omicron variant.

But, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the daily case rate is falling following the spread of omicron, the number of deaths caused by the recent outbreak continues to climb.

It's been about six weeks since the U.S. surpassed 800,000 COVID-19 deaths in December. Since then, the average daily death toll has risen to more than 2,000 a day — a level not seen since last February.

Trends in COVID-19 deaths tend to trail behind trends in COVID-19 cases, so the daily death rate will likely fall in the weeks ahead. But hospitals in some parts of the country remain overwhelmed with patients sick with the virus.

The tragic milestone comes a year after the initial distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. According to the CDC, 80% of those eligible for a vaccine in the U.S. have gotten at least one shot.

While the omicron variant has shown some resistance to vaccines compared to past variants, the shots are still extremely effective in preventing severe infection or death. According to a recent study released by the CDC, between Dec. 25 and Jan. 8, unvaccinated people were 23 times more likely to be sent to the hospital with omicron than those who were fully vaccinated and boosted.

According to a database kept by Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. continues to lead the world in both deaths and total cases of the virus. Brazil (630,000) and India (500,000) are the only other countries that have recorded more than half a million COVID-19 deaths.

MISSION, Kan. —

Carolyn Burnett is bracing for her first Christmas without her son Chris, a beloved high school football coach whose outdoor memorial service drew a crowd of hundreds.

The unvaccinated 34-year-old father of four died in September as a result of COVID-19 after nearly two weeks on a ventilator, and his loss has left a gaping hole for his mother, widow and family as the holidays approach.

How, she thought, could they take a holiday photo without Chris? What would Christmas Day football be like without him offering up commentary? How could they play trivia games on Christmas Eve without him beating everyone with his movie expertise?

The U.S. on Tuesday hit another depressing pandemic milestone — 800,000 deaths. It's a sad coda to a year that held so much promise with the arrival of vaccines but is ending in heartbreak for the many grieving families trying to navigate the holiday season.

For its Christmas card photo, the Burnett family ultimately opted to hold up a football presented as a memorial by the Kansas City Chiefs to represent Chris. Carolyn Burnett also set up a special shelf for the holidays, filling it with a drawing of her son, his bronzed baby shoe, a candle, a poem and an ornament of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

But nothing feels quite right this year.

"These emotions come and go so quickly," she said. "You see something. You hear something. His favorite food. You hear the song. There's just all these little things. And then, bam."

The year began with the COVID-19 death toll at about 350,000 in the U.S., at a time when the country was in the throes of a winter surge so bad that patients were lined up in emergency room hallways waiting for beds.

But vaccines were just getting rolled out, and sports stadiums and fairgrounds were quickly transformed into mass vaccination sites. Case numbers began falling. By spring, nearly all schools had reopened and communities were shedding mask orders. TV newscasters began talking cheerfully about a post-pandemic world. President Joe Biden proclaimed the Fourth of July holiday as a celebration of the nation's freedom from the virus.

It didn't last long. The delta variant struck just as vaccination rates were stalling amid a wave of misinformation, devastating poorly immunized portions of the Midwest and South. Hospitals brought back mobile morgues and opened up their pocket books in a desperate bid to attract enough nurses to care for the sick.

"People have no idea," said Debbie Eaves, a lab worker, who grew weary of the wave of death as she collected swabs from patients at Oakdale Community Hospital in Louisiana amid the surge. "Oh, no. They have no idea what it is to look and see, to see it."

In Kansas, Carolyn Burnett begged her son, who went by the nickname Coach Cheese because of his love of cheeseburgers, to get vaccinated.

"He was a part of the group that ... just didn't trust it," she said, pausing and sighing. "They didn't want to be a guinea pig. They didn't want to be experimented on."

She thought maybe he was softening. When his dad got his first COVID-19 shot in August, Chris, a diabetic, told his mother he would discuss it with his doctor. But then one of Chris' children got infected at a family sleepover and soon everyone was sick.

She texted him, "Honey, God's got you." His last text to her said: "Mama, I feel him." He died Sept. 11.

School administrators tweeted heartfelt condolences, praising his passion in coaching running backs at Olathe East High School. Tearful athletes paid tribute in TV interviews. The Kansas City Glory, an all-female football team that Burnett coached, asked fans to contribute to a GoFundMe fundraiser to help his children. And he was honored with an inspiration award at a ceremony that recognizes the region's best high school athletes.

"We had so much support that you would think he was a celebrity," his mom recalled.

Now, as the year ends, the delta variant is fueling another wave of hospitalizations, court battles are brewing over vaccine mandates and fresh questions are swirling about the new omicron variant.

Steve Grove has seen his share of coronavirus deaths in his role as a chaplain at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.

Recently, one dying patient's family gathered in a conference room. One by one they were taken to the patient's bedside, while the other relatives watched on Zoom.

"It's a huge pain in the butt and the connection drops and it's weird," he acknowledged. "Here's what I'm going to say to COVID: 'Up yours.' I'm getting a Zoom call going, and there you have it. That's what's happening today at least. You're going to do what you're going to do and you're going to kill this person. You get to do that COVID. But what we're going to do today is this. And I'm going to give them a hug when it's done."

"The alternative," he said, "is that you just, you just give up, and I guess most people in this building have too much faith in humanity."

He acknowledged that he sometimes gets mad at unvaccinated patients because it "didn't have to be this way. And now there's a mess that perhaps was avoidable."

"I'll confess to it," he said. "And I know I'm not proud of it, and I swallow it down and then I remember as a human being that my compassion reminds me that it's still somebody's loved one. It is still death and it still stings."

Dr. LaTasha Perkins, of Georgetown University Student Health, is getting ready to take a job in January in a clinic that helps underserved residents of the community. She is Black and said she felt compelled to make the change after watching the virus devastate her family.

She has lost a great uncle, an aunt and a cousin to COVID-19, and she suspects the virus may have played a role in the death of her grandfather. When it struck her own household last December after she had gotten her first shot but the rest of her family wasn't yet eligible, she spent sleepless nights watching her toddler breathe and took her husband to the hospital, although he wasn't admitted. She never got sick and credits the vaccine. Her husband also later got the shot.

Still, maddeningly to her, only three of her six siblings are vaccinated. Some of the hesitation, she said, is rooted in the "horrible things done in the name of medicine to Black and brown bodies in this country." She tells them: "If you're worried about rich white people not caring about you, they're lining up getting the vaccine."

She has been unable, though, to get through to some of her relatives. It's part of the reason why she started doing hesitancy talks specifically for African Americans in the D.C. area.

"For my own selfish reason, I don't want to go to any more funerals," she said, "and I don't want COVID to come back in my house."

In another bleak reminder of the toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on the U.S., Johns Hopkins reported Wednesday that the country had surpassed three-quarters of a million deaths from the virus since early 2020.

The U.S. reached the grim milestone Wednesday — the same day that tens of millions of children across the country became eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, deaths from the virus remain elevated but have fallen significantly since the delta variant's peak this summer. Currently, about 1,100 Americans are dying of the virus each day, down from a 2021 high of 1,200 in mid-September.

Health officials say that the current COVID-19 death toll is largely avoidable. The vast majority of those who have died in recent months were unvaccinated, according to the CDC.

The agency says that unvaccinated people are 4.5 times more likely to contract COVID-19 and 11 times more likely to die from the virus compared to those who are vaccinated.

Worldwide, the U.S. and Brazil (608,000) are the only other countries that have recorded more than half a million COVID-19 deaths. India currently has seen about 460,000 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

The U.S. also leads the world in confirmed COVID-19 cases with more than 46 million.

LACY LAKEVIEW, Texas — A Texas school district is mourning the loss of a 16-year-old high school student who died of COVID-19 on Wednesday — the fourth student or staff member the district has lost to the virus since August.

George Moralez, a 16-year-old student at Connally High School in Waco, died Wednesday night after a month-long battle with the virus.

"My George fought so hard to the very end," said Sabrina Moralez, George's mom. "He was the best kid you could've ever met."

According to the district, George was involved in the Air Force Junior ROTC program and was a manager of the football team.

"Our sympathy and condolences go out to this family," said Wesley Holt, the Connally Independent School District superintendent. "George will be deeply missed by everyone in Connally ISD."

Funeral arrangements are pending, but the district said it would announce them at the request of the family.

George's death marks the fourth time a member of the Connally ISD community has died of COVID-19 since August.

Two teachers — sixth-grade social studies teacher Natalia Chansler and seventh-grade social studies teacher David McCormick — died of COVID-19 within four days of each other in August. A month later, Angela Thompson, an instructional aide at Connally Primary School, died of COVID-19.

The school says it will provide a vaccination clinic for staff, students, parents and the community on Monday between 5:30-7:30 p.m. local time in the Connally High School commons area.

This story was originally published by Jamie Burch on Scripps station KXXV in Waco, Texas.

FRANKLIN, Mass. —

A Massachusetts family hopes the COVID-19 vaccine can save other families from the grief they have been experiencing since early in the pandemic when their beloved father and grandfather died.

“He loved his family, his grandkids,” said Joe Minahan of Franklin, who lost his father, Joseph, to COVID-19 in April.

“Fun-loving guy. He could be stubborn, a stubborn Irishman."

The 88-year-old grandfather of five was in a nursing home. Pandemic restrictions meant the Minahan family had no contact.

“That was probably the toughest part for everybody,” Joe Minahan said. “You couldn't see him -- you know that one last time. Just to say goodbye.”

The number of deaths due to COVID continues to grow each day with thousands of lives lost and families impacted.

“The layers of grief are so many,” said Director of Pastoral Care at Tufts Medical Center Ali Jablonsky. “We're grieving so much in so many different ways and our usual ways to process grief are either different or not available to us. My hope is that anyone and everyone gives themselves some grace, kindness, patience.”

Minahan hopes the vaccine will turn the tide and save other families from their pain.

“Like I said: Everybody has to do their part, let's try to beat this thing,” he said.

More than half a million people in the U.S. have now died of COVID-19, a stark reminder of the toll the pandemic has taken on the country as the rate of the virus slows.

The U.S. crossed the threshold Monday, nearly a year after the first wave of COVID-19 led to widespread lockdowns and stay-at-home orders. As of Monday at least 28 million Americans are confirmed to have contracted the virus — a number that is likely much higher.

The U.S. leads the world in deaths caused by the virus. The country represents about 4% of the world’s population but accounts for about 20% of the world’s 2.5 million COVID-19 deaths.

Brazil, with 246,000 deaths is the only other country in the world that has recorded at least 200,000 deaths.

The U.S. also leads the world in total recorded COVID-19 cases with nearly 30 million. India and Brazil are the only other countries with at least 10 million total cases.

President Joe Biden is expected to hold a remembrance ceremony at the White House to honor those killed by the virus on Monday evening.

Despite the pain and suffering linked to half a million deaths, health experts are hopeful that the U.S. is already through the darkest days of the pandemic. There are two COVID-19 vaccines approved for emergency use — both of which have been proven to be safe and highly effective.

There are also several other vaccine candidates that could be approved in the weeks ahead. And while the spread of the virus and rates of severe infections of the disease remain elevated, they’ve plummeted in recent weeks.

Since peaking at nearly a quarter of a million new cases each day in early January, case rates have declined to an average of about 66,000 a day. Average deaths have also decreased from about 3,300 a day to about 1,900 a day.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new study that found a link between mask mandates and decreased COVID-19 cases and deaths.

According to the study, which compared data in counties where states require masks between last March and December, the spread of the virus slowed when local governments implemented mask mandates within 20 days of implementation.

COVID-19 death rates decreased by 1.9% points 100 days after the mandates were implemented, the study found.

The research found a significant link to the increase of COVID-19 cases and deaths and on-site dining at restaurants allowed by local governments for more than 40 days.

"Allowing on-premises restaurant dining was associated with an increase in daily COVID-19 case growth rates 41–100 days after implementation and an increase in daily death growth rates 61–100 days after implementation," researchers said. "Mask mandates and restricting any on-premises dining at restaurants can help limit community transmission of COVID-19 and reduce case and death growth rates. These findings can inform public policies to reduce community spread of COVID-19."

According to the research, dining at restaurants was linked to a 1.1% increase in the case growth rate 81-100 days later.

The study did not differentiate between indoor and outdoor dining.

The U.S. has now surpassed 600,000 deaths from COVID-19.

Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows the country reached the grim milestone on Tuesday. And the data shows more than 33.4 million Americans have tested positive for the coronavirus since it was first identified in the U.S. in early 2020.

The landmark death toll comes at a time when case numbers and deaths are at record lows across the country.

Data shows just 203 people died in the U.S. on Monday, one of the lowest daily death tolls the nation has seen since March. About 12,700 cases were confirmed that day.

Much of the country’s success in combating the pandemic can be attributed to the ongoing vaccination effort. As of Tuesday, about 54.4% of U.S. adults are fully vaccinated and more than 64% of people in that age group have received at least one dose, according to a vaccine tracker from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

As a whole, the CDC says 43.7% of the total U.S. population has been fully vaccinated and 52.5% have gotten at least one shot.

Though these numbers are encouraging and states have now lifted most of their restrictions, the pandemic is not over. Americans are still dying as a result of COVID-19 and the virus remains a serious threat in countries without the vaccine infrastructure in place in the U.S.

Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Missouri, Nevada, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming have seen their average infection rates rise over the last few weeks, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. All of those states lag behind the national vaccination rate of 43% fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

President Joe Biden had hoped to reach 70% of the population with at least one dose of the vaccine by July 4. While some regions and individual counties have already met this goal, there are other parts of the country that are closer to 40% and will likely not reach that July 4 goal.