City glows in amber to remember Covid victims — and urge vaccinations
The 1,665 white flags set into the ground for everyone who has died of Covid in the Kansas City area will need more added even as the somber ceremony plays out tonight (Jan. 19) outside the National WWI Museum and Memorial.
Nationwide more than 4,000 deaths daily weigh onto a death toll exceeding 400,000 as the United States observes a National Day of Remembrance.
Vaccination surveys, Covid testing sites:
A national ceremony at the reflecting pool of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., will precede community ceremonies across the country as the nation measures the lives of so many lost, including thousands of frontline workers who saved lives.
Kansas City’s ceremony was to begin at 5:30 p.m., about an hour after the Washington ceremony. Beyond the field of white flags, the city’s skyline and fountains was to be lit in amber.
The day of remembrance is also a call to action — urging everyone to sign up on county and city online surveys to help health departments and medical services prepare everyone to receive Covid-19 vaccinations.
LINC has compiled links to the online surveys, as well as opportunities to get tested for Covid-19 and other updates at kclinc.org/corona-virus-testing-and-screening.
Vaccines, as they become available, are being administered to people according to Missouri’s CDC-guided statewide vaccination plan. The process sets up a priority list, delivering the vaccine first to people who are most vulnerable and frontline workers who treat and comfort people with Covid.
The online surveys help the vaccine providers organize people according to the priority phases, and will enable providers to contact people when they are eligible to get vaccinations.
The call for vaccinations is particularly urgent in communities that have been hit disproportionately hard by the virus, including communities with high populations of Black and Hispanic residents.
Multiple vaccines have been developed with remarkably high effectiveness, and the medical community broadly wants to send a message that helps people overcome any anxiety around receiving the vaccinations, according to a New York Times report.
“It’s going to save your life — that’s where the emphasis has to be right now,” Dr. Peter Hotez of the Baylor College of Medicine said.
Kansas City’s display of flags will be continue through Sunday, January 24, and the city is inviting the public to visit the installation.
Speakers scheduled for the Jan. 19 ceremony were Matthew C. Naylor, President and CEO of the National WWI Museum and Memorial, Eric Bunch, 4th District Councilperson, Dr. Rex Archer, director of the Kansas City Health Department and Crissy Dastrup, 4th District Legislative Aid.