We need a national day of mourning for the coronavirus .

As the first vaccinations began in the U.S. on Monday, bringing with them a ray of hope, the nation hit a grim milestone: more than 300,000 people dead from the virus so far.

Weve been struggling, said Douglas Yankton, chairman of the Spirit Lake Tribe in North Dakota. Native Americans have been disproportionately infected, hospitalized and killed by the virus. Yankton lost four family members an uncle and three cousins in the span of a week.

Its a burden not only on the families but on the community when we keep having to bury our people, he said.

Scott Davis, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, who lost two cousins and a friend to COVID-19, said that theres been no closure as coronavirus protocols have prevented people from visiting hospitalized loved ones or gathering for funerals.

They go to the hospital, you cant see them, you cant be around them, and all of a sudden it happens, and then the families are left struggling to have closure, he said. You gotta mourn.

With an average now of 2,400 people dying each day of the coronavirus, Black and Latinx people have also been disproportionately affected not only by the deaths but also by the economic fallout from the pandemic, including high rates of joblessness.

Grief coach Breeshia Wade said that a national day of observance for the coronavirus losses would be important for accountability and acknowledging the massive failure in how this played out.

Its not just the death toll. Theres the loss of a way of life, of American identity and what it means to be a cohesive country that comes together to protect its citizens, Wade said. Theres a loss of trust with our neighbors, with some wearing a mask and some who arent.

We need something to bring us together to honor what has been lost if were going to have any hope of healing, she added.