The final insult: Some dying of COVID-19 while awaiting vaccine More than 247,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. since vaccines first became available mid-December. Share Via Email | A+A A- In this undated photo provided by Laura Brown, is Air Force veteran Diane Drewes who died of COVID-19 in Ohio, while waiting to receive a vaccine against the coronavirus. (Photo | AP) By Associated Press After months of hoping to receive a COVID-19 immunization and then weeks of fighting the illness after one never came, Air Force veteran Diane Drewes was down to her last few breaths at a hospice center in Ohio when the phone rang. It was a health care worker, calling to schedule her first appointment for a coronavirus shot.