Biden Kicks Off Inaugural Events With Tribute to Over 400,000 Lives Lost to COVID Pandemic

WASHINGTON (AP) – At a memorial for the lives taken by COVID-19, President-elect Joe Biden is calling on Americans to remember those lost to the coronavirus and to begin to heal.

(Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Biden said Tuesday night, on the eve of his inauguration, that while it’s “hard sometimes to remember,” it’s “how we heal.” Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, speaking before him, emphasized a similar note of unity.

While Americans have been grieving alone for most of the pandemic, Harris said, “Tonight we grieve, and begin healing, together.”

The remembrance ceremony was held at the Lincoln Memorial’s reflecting pool, which was lit up with 400 lights in honor of the 400,000 Americans who have died from the virus.

In Texas, more than 300 new COVID-19 deaths for the fifth time time in the past week as the toll of the pandemic across the U.S. surpassed 400,000 deaths.

Heath officials also confirmed Tuesday more than 8,000 new cases as hospitalizations continued to hover around 14,000. Officials in the border city of Laredo say hospitals are at capacity.

Last week, the Texas Department of State Health Services said the pandemic is “at its worst.”

Watch: Nationwide COVID-19 Memorial:

Meantime, addressing the COVID pandemic during his farewell address on Tuesday afternoon, President Trump said:

(Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

“When our nation was hit with the terrible pandemic, we produced not one, but two vaccines with record-breaking speed, and more will quickly follow. They said it couldn’t be done but we did it. They call it a ‘medical miracle,’ and that’s what they’re calling it right now: a ‘medical miracle.’

Another administration would have taken 3, 4, 5, maybe even up to 10 years to develop a vaccine. We did in nine months.

We grieve for every life lost, and we pledge in their memory to wipe out this horrible pandemic once and for all.”

In other remarks, Trump said. “As I conclude my term as the 45th President of the United States, I stand before you truly proud of what we have achieved together. We did what we came here to do — and so much more.

This week, we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous. We extend our best wishes, and we also want them to have luck — a very important word.