According to Johns Hopkins University, more than five million people have perished from Covid-19 worldwide in the 19 months since the pandemic began.
Vaccines have reduced the number of deaths, but some health professionals believe the true toll is much greater.
The achievement comes as health officials issue warnings that illnesses and deaths in some areas are on the rise for the first time in months.
The virus has been linked to about 250 million cases worldwide.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the true worldwide death toll from the epidemic could be two to three times greater than official figures.
In the US, more than 745,800 people have died, making it the country with the highest number of recorded deaths.
While immunizations have helped to cut the death rate, the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned last week that the pandemic was “far from done.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the organization’s director-general, referred to an increase in cases in Europe, where nations with low vaccination rates are seeing an increase in infections and fatalities.
Dr Tedros said that if the vaccine doses had been distributed fairly, “we would have reached our 40% target in every country by now”.
“The pandemic persists in large part because inequitable access to tools persists,” he said.
Vaccines have allowed many countries to gradually open up, with most of the world now easing restrictions.
