MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: And finally today, although we re not there yet, we re getting there. More than 4 in 10 people in the U.S. are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. And although we re nearing yet another previously unimaginable milestone of 600,000 dead from COVID, the country is starting to recover, with people going back to school and work and travel and all the other things they like to do.
So we thought we would check in - maybe for the final time; we ll see - with a group of people who ve been so instrumental in helping the country cope. We re talking about faith leaders. We started connecting with three religious leaders last March, just as lockdowns began, and we ve been checking in with them from time to time. We wanted to know how they ve weathered all this and how they re doing now.
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April 21, 2020 The clerics have been sworn to secrecy. On this warm morning, they’ve come to a vast and empty parking lot, instructed not to tell anyone of its location. The pitch of asphalt is unusually secure, hidden behind a 12-foot chain-link fence that’s been swathed in sheets of black tarp to prevent anyone from peering through. At the front gate, armed soldiers stand guard.
Inside, large trailers are arranged behind tented canopies and banks of lights. Metal ramps are affixed to each trailer so that stretchers can be wheeled in. The interior walls of the trailers are lined with seven rows of metallic shelving, sturdy enough to support thousands of pounds. The temperature is 24 degrees.