Social distancing plus vaccines prevented 800,000 COVID deaths, but at great cost

Changing people’s behavior until a vaccine could be developed prevented roughly 800,000 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S., far more than many scientists predicted was possible, according to new CU Boulder and UCLA research. But the authors stress that interventions like lockdowns and school closures came at great cost—one that could be reduced in future pandemics if the country had a better infrastructure for gathering public health data.