According to the best estimates, the COVID-19 pandemic, which began spreading across the world in 2020, had caused around 27 million deaths by August 2024. It has caused grief and suffering over lost lives, put immense pressure on doctors and nurses, and continues to disrupt societies, economies, and lives.
Countries implemented a range of policies to slow the spread of disease — from testing and contact tracing to social distancing and vaccination. The global response was slow and uneven, with significant disparities in healthcare and vaccination worldwide.
Since February 2020, we at Our World in Data worked with data providers to build and maintain a global dataset of the most critical data on COVID.
Our team made two major efforts: building the global dataset on vaccinations and the global dataset on testing. We allowed people worldwide to explore and download this data through our site.
From the article: