And KEY POINT:
While an earlier vaccine rollout could have saved many lives (est. 70k) from the Delta variant, it is the high infection levels (not booster doses) that ultimately brought the pandemic to an end.
The key point is pandemics end via immunity. Whether that comes from having the infection, having the vaccine, or both, or as viral mutations lead to less virulent forms. All of the above have occurred.
There may yet be another wave (or more) but each will be more attenuated than prior waves.
Social distancing, closed schools, closed businesses, cloth masks, remote working (where possible), bizarre sanitization activities, closure of parks, trails and bike paths – did little, and typically nothing, to stop the pandemic.
The only way a pandemic ends is via immunity. While we may wish all this hand waving could stop a pandemic, it did nothing of the sort. We do not have effective, sustainable non-pharmaceutical tools to stop a pandemic. Anyone who tells us that if only we had masked more, or locked down longer, or been more like China, is not thinking clearly.
