When General Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, died Monday, Oct. 18, due to complications from COVID-19, Prevention.com addressed questions about vaccination.

The publication noted that General Powell, 84, was fully vaccinated but had previously been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, “a type of blood cancer that makes it difficult for the body to fight infections.”

The Prevention article said, “According to CDC data, 24,717 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19 breakthrough cases and 7,178 people have died. By comparison, 722,212 people have died of the virus in the U.S. since the pandemic began, per CDC data—with the vast majority being unvaccinated.”

Richard Watkins, M.D., an infectious disease physician and professor of internal medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University, told Prevention, “Colin Powell died because someone else made the choice not to get vaccinated.”

 CDC information about COVID-19 vaccines for older adults

Read the Prevention.com article.