An interim analysis by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that the average reached 76 years, one year less than at the end of 2020, and three years less than in 2019.

For some Americans, such as the original populations and Alaskan natives, life expectancy is even lower, since between 2019 and 2021 this rate fell by 6.6 years to 65.2, according to the source.

The expectation for this community is now the same as for all citizens in the 1940s, said the main author of the report, Elizabeth Aria.

Losses in these populations were horrendous due to the damage caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and reflect the many barriers tribal communities face in accessing care, said the professor of people’s health at the University of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Steven Woolf.

He added that the drop in life expectancy for white Americans, reduced by a year to 76.4, is a reflection of attitudes in some parts of the country toward vaccines and pandemic control measures.

The United States health care system is fragmented, he pointed out, while recalling how there are 50 different plans to confront SARS-CoV-2

Heart disease, suicide, and chronic liver ailments and cirrhosis are other factors that have contributed to the decline in life expectancy, the information said.

Likewise, the report added, the increases in unintentional injuries in 2021 were largely due to drug overdose deaths that increased during the pandemic.

The United States is lagging behind in the response to heart disease, its leading cause of death, and the gap in life expectancy between this nation and other countries is growing, said expert John Haaga, former director of the National Institute on Aging.

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