COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in 2021, while the differences in death rates between certain racial and ethnic minority groups remain, the CDC announced in a press release.

Provisional 2021 US mortality data, provided by The CDC’s National Vital Statistics System, included a comparison of death rates for all causes of death and for those involving COVID-19, showing an overall rate increase of almost 1% from 2020.

Non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaskan Native and non-Hispanic Black or African American people had the highest overall death rates, with COVIC-19 following heart disease and cancer as the leading caused of death.

Differences in COVID-19 death rates decreased by 14-40% among most racial and ethnic groups, including non-Hispanic White people, who accounted for 60-65% of all people who died. However, death rates increased by 7.2% for non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander persons compared with non-Hispanic multiracial people.

“The results highlighted the need for greater effort to implement effective interventions,” the release said. “We must work to ensure equal treatment in all communities in the proportion to their need for effective interventions that can prevent excess COVID-19 deaths.”

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