dean credits carter mecher's vision with giving her the courage to push.ine dr. matt hepburn, who ultimately led vaccine development for the trump administration's "operation warp speed." but still, over 600,000 americans have died. >> lewis: it's like a superhero story, where the superheroes seem to lose in the end. they're there to fight this pandemic and to save american lives. they don't appear to do it, but the little wrinkle on the end of it is, you know, they learned things that are going to help us the next time around. >> dickerson: the stories of each character's struggle to be heard highlight what lewis says is a key point: public institutions are ill-equipped to move fast enough to handle a large-scale pandemic. his characters worry the country is still vulnerable. what connects them, the characters? >> lewis: they love life, they realize how important it is, and they want to save it. and so, they all have some-- this emotional component of when they hear 600,000 americans died. it's not just a number. >> dickerson: michael writes that all of y