I don't think anyone is suggesting vaccines are the end all-be-all regarding the pandemic. Vaccines are the first line of defense, with treatments being for those who still manage to get sick. These treatments aren't an alternative to vaccines, they are a complement.

That's like saying seatbelts are an alternative to traffic laws.

> I don't think anyone is suggesting vaccines are the end all-be-all regarding the pandemic.

Many states and health institutions behave as this was the case.

Many states, such as Spain, are already pretending that COVID does not exist because of their vaccination rollout plan in spite of their rollout plan only recently started vaccinating 40yo with their first dose.

Even with an effective treatment, you would need to (a) either impose strict lockdown rules or (b) accept a meltdown of the healthcare system without a vaccine. What would you choose?

i fail to see any medical system collapse happening anywhere these days and lockdowns have hardly shown any effectiveness as people still gather anyway and nothing is really enforced. Look at LA lockdowns and good luck trying to see where they started and ended if you look at the number of infections over time.