The number of people dying due to COVID-19 in the United States this year is on pace to surpass the death toll from the virus in 2020, data shows.

The U.S. has recorded nearly 705,000 coronavirus deaths — almost double the roughly 377,000 deaths reported in 2020, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Johns Hopkins University.

The CDC on Monday reported a 7-day rolling average of 1,444 daily coronavirus deaths, putting the U.S on a grim pace to eclipse 2020’s figures.

Though officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci believe the U.S. could finally be turning the corner on the deadly pandemic. The country is beginning to roll out vaccine boosters to vulnerable populations as coronavirus deaths, cases and hospitalizations trend down.

Fauci warned that the spread of the virus in the coming months will be determined by the country’s vaccination rate.

“The best way to assure that we’ll be in good shape as we get into the winter would be to get more and more people vaccinated,” Fauci told CNN Monday.

About 65% of Americans have received at least one coronavirus vaccine dose, according to the CDC.

“We’ve just got to concentrate on continuing to get those numbers down, and not try to jump ahead by weeks or months and say what we’re going to do at a particular time,” Fauci told CBS Sunday. “Let’s focus like a laser on continuing to get those cases down, and we can do it by people getting vaccinated.”

(AP)