Dothan mayor proclaims ‘COVID-19 Victims and Survivors Memorial Day’ on March 1

The impact has been felt strongly by city commissioners and Mayor Mark Saliba, who seek to memorialize those affected by COVID-19 and those who’ve helped the community with a day of observance.

During Tuesday’s commission meeting, Saliba proclaimed March 1 “COVID-19 Victims and Survivors Memorial Day.”

“I think the proclamation we did today was so appropriate,” Saliba said. “Even though there have been really tough times, I do think that what Dothan Pediatrics and many others in our city have done, it shows that when we have tough times, this city, this community, this county comes together.”

After the meeting, Saliba said an event has not yet been planned.

He said he received the idea of the proclamation from the U.S. Conference of Mayors and decided to adopt it because of COVID-19’s impact on Dothan’s residents.

“We’re continuing to fight the fight and we need to be diligent, but we want to take the time to remember especially those that have passed away from it,” Saliba said, lamenting multiple friends that have died from the illness and other friends and family who have suffered from the illness to some degree. “It’s disruptive to our lives and dangerous to our lives.”

The text of the proclamation calls attention to essential workers who sacrificed their own health and safety to protect the community and save lives, and to the virus’ disproportionate impact on low-income communities and communities of color.

Amid continued social-distancing and mask mandates, Gov. Kay Ivey and the Alabama Department of Public Health believe the best defense against the virus is “getting shots in the arms of Alabama residents.”

Vaccine administration is taking place nearly every weekday with the exception of recent bad weather days.

Saliba compared the urgency of getting a vaccine to the flu vaccine developed to combat the 1918 H1N1 pandemic that killed over 600,000 Americans in two years.

“I’m not sure how to continue to emphasize the importance of it. I think we all have to do the research ourselves, continue to get good reliable information, and make the best decisions for themselves,” Saliba said.

Since vaccines have become more readily available to the general public, hospitalizations at Southeast Health have declined over 50% compared to immediately post-holiday figures in the weeks following New Year’s Day.

Public health systems are working diligently to distribute more vaccines as two more contagious COVID-19 variants become more widespread.