Joe Biden has memorialized the more than 400,000 Americans who have thus far died from Covid-19 during a moving vigil held in Washington DC.
Late on Tuesday afternoon, gospel singer Yolanda Adams performed Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' as 400 lanterns were lit in memory of those Americans who had lost their lives to the coronavirus pandemic.
“To heal, we must remember. And it is hard sometimes to remember, but that’s how we heal. It is important to do that as a nation. That is why we are here today,” Biden said.
“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.”
Per The Guardian, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said “We gather tonight, a nation in mourning, to pay tribute to lives we have lost, a grandmother or grandfather who is our whole world, a parent, partner, sibling or friend who we still cannot accept is no longer here, and for many months we have grieved by ourselves." She added, "Tonight, we grieve and begin healing together."
The vigil was described as Biden's inauguration committee as “a chance to reflect and honor those no longer with us."
In a pre-recorded farewell speech released Tuesday, Donald Trump did not appear to specifically address the scale of coronavirus pandemic in the United States during his administration.
"We grieve for every life lost," he said, "and we pledge in their memory to wipe out this horrible pandemic once and for all."
The coronavirus pandemic is a clear priority for the Biden administration as the President-elect prepares to begin his term of office. Biden has pledged to vaccinate 100 million Americans in his first 100 days as President.
Biden is to be sworn in as President of the United States today, while Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take the oath of office alongside him in Washington DC.
Security has been tightened in the wake of the Capitol riots that saw five people lose their lives, the BBC reports, with some 25,000 troops set to guard the inauguration ceremony.
Donald Trump will depart the White House for Florida, it has been reported. Trump himself had previously confirmed that he would not be attending Biden's inauguration, breaking from long-standing tradition in the process.
