Start with the data on vaccinations. They didn't stop infection, but they clearly helped avoid serious sickness and death. Yet people were resistant because they feared the vaccines were rushed through. Can we improve confidence in future vaccines?
How much of it was vaccine-related vs. variant-related? While I generally agree with you, the biggest issue was vaccines didn't live up to medical professionals promises or their definition in regards to prevention.
Definition:
a substance used to stimulate the production of antibodies and provide immunity against one or several diseases
I suppose we can next quibble about the definition of immunity, but I stand by my claim that vaccines didn't live up to their billing. And moreover, they continue to become less effective in both prevention of transmission and prevention of severe disease with each variant (e.g., BA.5, BA.4)
What about masks? By now we should all know whether and what masks prevent the exhalation of the COVID virus. But I've never seen it simply demonstrated. We're just told to wear them. That's dumb.
I don't disagree, but part of that depends on a host of factors: viral load, age/size of the person wearing it, variant they are infected with, coughing vs. sneezing, etc. I don't see how someone effectively can control for all of these variables when they, themselves, are unclear.
As for lockdowns, it probably made sense for NYC to lockdown in March 2020. What about Bloomington - not so sure. How can we be smarter about lockdowns?
We can't because when there is a novel virus, we don't know enough about its behavior. To try and anticipate something we will know nothing about seems futile. We do know the long-term negative consequences of lockdowns, in terms of mental health, economic disruption, school/learning detriment, etc.
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