On February 22, President Joseph R. Biden issued remarks to proclaim that over 500,000 Americans have now died from COVID-19 infection. He and Vice President Kamala Harris held a moment of silence and ordered flags be lowered to half-mast at federal buildings for the next 5 days to honor those who have lost their lives to this pandemic, according to a report by AP News.
In a press briefing held by the White House COVID-19 Response Team and public health officials on February 22, Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noted, “This week we … surpass 1 half-million COVID-19 deaths in the United States—a truly tragic reminder of the enormity of this pandemic and the loss it has afflicted on our personal lives and our communities.”
President Biden noted in his remarks, “Today, we mark a truly grim, heartbreaking milestone: 500,071 dead. That’s more Americans who have died in 1 year in this pandemic than in World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War combined. That’s more lives lost to this virus than any other nation on Earth…. But as we remember—as we all remember—I also ask us to act. To remain vigilant, to stay socially distanced, to mask up, get vaccinated when it’s your turn.”
