Vastly unequal America has world's highest COVID-19 death toll: The Guardian

LONDON -- As US COVID-19 death toll surpassed 900,000 on Friday, much of the blame has fallen on individuals despite vast income inequality and vaccine accessibility issues, The Guardian has reported.

The death toll would be equivalent to population of the 15th most populous city in the United States, more than San Francisco, Washington, DC or Boston, said the report.

The country also has the highest death rate of any wealthy country, with half of the deaths occurring after vaccines became available, the newspaper noted.

"The US has never responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in a sustained, proactive way as a unified nation. Instead, much of the responsibility -- and blame -- has fallen on individuals," said the report. "In a country with vast income inequality, poor health and sharp political divides, the results have been grim."

As a recent report in the Lancet has observed, said the paper, one predictor of COVID-19 deaths by country is trust in government, and countries with lower levels of trust in government had higher rates of cases and deaths.

National leaders in the United States are unable to mandate precautions, like masks or vaccines, for the entire country, with responsibilities largely falling instead to state and local leaders, said The Guardian.