The president is planning to make comments and hold a candle lighting ceremony at the White House around sunset on Monday, if the threshold is exceeded, a White House official said. First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will also participate.
The plans for the ceremony underscore the empathic message that Biden has sought to convey to the response to the coronavirus in the United States since taking office last month – a departure from his predecessor. On Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the government was working on plans for the president to use his “own voice and platform to remind people whose lives were lost, families who still suffer “.
“To heal, we must remember,” said Biden at the January event. Harris also spoke briefly at the memorial, noting that “for many months, we have suffered for ourselves. Tonight, we have suffered and we have begun healing together.”
“They are dying. This is true. And you – are what you are,” said Trump at the time. “But that does not mean that we are not doing everything we can. It is in control as much as you can control.”
“This is a race to spread the vaccine broadly and quickly enough to eliminate the chance of spreading even more strains,” said Dr. Bala Hota, an infectious disease specialist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. “We are not out of danger yet.”
This story was updated with additional information on Sunday.