The link you shared states that there have been 64 deaths, and that emergency room visits continue to decline. The theory that the entire rash of injuries was caused by vitamin E acetate is broadly accepted.

The sort of fear-mongering you're engaging in exactly what's meant by moral panic.

I thought they were referring to the thousands of people who will die because they returned to smoking cigarettes instead of vaping.

I stand corrected. How is it a moral panic to point out that there's a problem, in the case of the vape situation something with the chemicals used, and in the case of this virus the fact that it can kill and spread more efficiently than many other diseases? Should people not be alerted so they can take care of themselves? I don't understand the usage of "moral panic" in this way when people have been and can be hurt and killed when it could have been avoided if people just had more information.

If instead of banning legal vapes, we had banned night time driving of cars probably more lives would have been saved.

It's a moral panic because it isn't rooted in consistent moral principles, rather than fear.

Unlike vapes or car crashes, a virus can spread and do damage exponentially. If you have any understanding of mathematics it seems pretty logical to take the threat seriously and do the most you can do prevent it from spreading as fast as it would spread if unchecked. Why are borders between countries still allowing the free movement of people when it's clear that the virus is in most continents now in good numbers? Fear is a good feeling because it leads you to action, and in situations that call for it (like this one) it is the right feeling to have.

Your source says it got almost 3000 people hospitalized, of which some 60+ died. Or am I misreading it?

Appeal to emotion, which particularly doesn't make sense here since a lot of the people pushing back on that moral panic were people who themselves vape..

Another great moral panic that you want to look into is the War on Drugs. It has been decades, and some of the drugs are still in the early process of being unbanned/approved for medical research. Since you want to appeal to emotion so much, how do you feel about the scores of people that could have benefited from research on mushrooms, ketamine, etc. for depression?

Textbook moral panic tropes being used to justify panic, fascinating to see in action.