More than 750,000 people have died because of the coronavirus since the first death in the US, according to Johns Hopkins University on Thursday

The Maryland-based school registered 750,435 deaths and 46.2 million cases as the US remains the world’s worst-hit country.

The first fatality occurred in the state of California in early February of 2019.

The grim milestone came despite widespread vaccinations.

More than 425 million doses have been administered in the US and more than 192 million people, 58% of the population, have been fully been vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The national public health agency gave final approval earlier this week for Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, making up to 28 million in the age group eligible for the shots.

President Joe Biden said in October that infections are declining in 39 of 50 states and hospitalizations are falling in 38. He said his administration is making progress to "accelerate the path out of this pandemic."/agencies