I remember quite a few SARS and swine-flu scares over the past few decades - the disease would be quite destructive but small in scale. We aren't at "bring out your dead" levels yet but we have been living primarily in lockdowns for the past year and a half. If this doesn't qualify as a plague we should take seriously and address I'm rather afraid what would actually reach that level for you.

if covid was truly frightening we wouldn't need government mandates forcing people to take it seriously

People aren't good at estimating danger that's indirect. I can provide examples.

> Like any other vaccine

or drugs in general. Just look at adverse effects of Ibuprofen. Common drug, but unlike vaccines, it is not used for whole population at once. So adverse effects even if more common are not that visible.