To honor the memories of the more than 500,000 people in the United States who died of COVID-19, bipartisan members of Congress and the Senate held a candlelight vigil at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., last Tuesday.
Among those lawmakers present at the Feb. 23 vigil was Queens and Long Island Congressman Tom Suozzi, who offered a message of hope to the country.
“Our nation reaches another tragic milestone; more than 500,000 Americans killed by the coronavirus in just one year. To put the enormity of that number into perspective, if you counted one second for every person who has died from COVID in the U.S., you would count for almost six days. But while this last year has been filled with sadness and loss, we witnessed people across the country show the enormous ability to work together and overcome the difficulty presented by this virus,” Suozzi said.
As sure as spring follows winter, we will get through this. We will smile again. We will celebrate life’s simple pleasures that we once took for granted. We’ll hug, we’ll have family parties, we’ll go out to dinner, or maybe a concert. We will thank God for the gifts of our lives pic.twitter.com/jnf3Iii50b
— Tom Suozzi (@RepTomSuozzi) February 23, 2021
According to data from the CDC, more than 510,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and of those individuals, approximately 29,333 were from New York City.
Information from the nyc.gov website showed that nearly 1.95 million doses have been administered in New York City. More than 1.076 million people got a first dose through NYC-run programs while more than 611,000 New Yorkers have also received a second dose through city-run programs. Additionally almost 257,000 New Yorkers have gotten vaccine doses through federal and state programs.
In his message, Suozzi encouraged people to continue staying safe during the pandemic and get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“For now, let’s not become desensitized to the magnitude of the grief and devastation that the pandemic has caused. Wear your mask, stay socially distant, get vaccinated when it’s available and look out for each other,” he said.
Visit the nyc.gov website to learn more about vaccine eligibility and vaccine appointments.
