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From left: Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris, Dr. Jill Biden and Joe Biden at a memorial for COVID-19 victims on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Hours after the United Statessurpassed 400,000 deathsfrom thenovel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and as vaccine distribution continued across the country, the country’s next leaders marked the grim milestone witha memorial service in the nation’s capital on Tuesday night.
02of 08Joe Biden speaks at a memorial for COVID-19 victims on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.Al Drago/Getty ImagesBiden, in a brief speech, drew on his own history of loss.“To heal, we must remember. And it is hard sometimes to remember, but that’s how we heal,” he said. It is important to do that as a nation. That is why we are here today."
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Joe Biden speaks at a memorial for COVID-19 victims on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.Al Drago/Getty Images
Biden, in a brief speech, drew on his own history of loss.
“To heal, we must remember. And it is hard sometimes to remember, but that’s how we heal,” he said. It is important to do that as a nation. That is why we are here today."
03of 08COVID Memorial.PATRICK T. FALLON/Getty ImagesAs he went on, the lights around the pool alit. “Between sundown and dusk, let us shine the lights in the darkness along this sacred pool of reflection and remember all who we have lost,” he said.
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COVID Memorial.PATRICK T. FALLON/Getty Images
As he went on, the lights around the pool alit. “Between sundown and dusk, let us shine the lights in the darkness along this sacred pool of reflection and remember all who we have lost,” he said.
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From left: Dr. Jill Biden, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at a memorial for COVID-19 victims on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Harris echoed that in her own remarks.
“Tonight,” she said, “we grieve — and begin healing — together.”
05of 08Lights line the National Mall in honor of the lives lost to COVID-19.PATRICK T. FALLON/Getty ImagesThe reflecting pool was lit to “honor those who have died” throughout the ongoing pandemic, the Presidential Inaugural Committee previously said.
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Lights line the National Mall in honor of the lives lost to COVID-19.PATRICK T. FALLON/Getty Images
The reflecting pool was lit to “honor those who have died” throughout the ongoing pandemic, the Presidential Inaugural Committee previously said.
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During the event, from the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, nurse Lori Marie Key sang “Amazing Grace,” performer Yolanda Adams sang Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and Cardinal Wilton Gregory gave an invocation.
07of 08Chip Somodevilla/GettyBiden and Harris (here with Emhoff) have said that getting the pandemic under control will be their administration’s most pressing initial mission. Both have routinely met with health officials during the transition period, since they were elected in November.Last Thursday, the Biden administration announced a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief proposal aimed at combatting the health crisis and the economic downturn it has caused since businesses began shutting down last March.“We are ready to get this done,” Biden said last week. “The very health of our nation is at stake.”
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Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Biden and Harris (here with Emhoff) have said that getting the pandemic under control will be their administration’s most pressing initial mission. Both have routinely met with health officials during the transition period, since they were elected in November.
Last Thursday, the Biden administration announced a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief proposal aimed at combatting the health crisis and the economic downturn it has caused since businesses began shutting down last March.
“We are ready to get this done,” Biden said last week. “The very health of our nation is at stake.”
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Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images
The committee encouraged communities and individual Americans to participate in the memorial, asking U.S. officials nationwide to “light up city buildings” in light amber. The organizers told people around the country to light candles in their windows to mark what they called “a national moment of unity and remembrance.”
source: people.com
