Covid has been something like ten times as deadly as the flu. I imagine those hospital beds put way more strain on the system as a whole than a bad flu season (see: ventilator sharing). I think any human with a shred of empathy for their tribe would agree, that this level of misery warranted collective action on the level of our response to measles, mumps, rubella, tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis...

And though I really hope it's the case, I've heard no news yet that Omicron will be the last significant variant.

Did you actually listen to that panel discussion I linked where several leading physicians explain what's been happening and the mistakes that have been made?

Given the amount of time between when you posted and when I replied, it's safe to say I hadn't listened to the three-hour conversation between two physicians and a professor. Initially I scrolled down, was put off by the stack of text and images/embeds with no clear organization, skimmed the Cliff's notes, and failed to understand how it correlated with "we didn't impose mandates or restrictions on the rest of society."

They make several good points about policy moving forward and vaccinating children, but they were disregarding Omicron before we even knew much about it. Their general position aged like milk, now that there are more people in the hospital with Covid than at any point in the pandemic. They complain about Fauci holding rigid positions, while my science-illiterate family complain that the rules keep changing/are confusing. None of this addresses the fact that masks and vaccines are consistent with past policy in America and have been more effective than nothing, at least as far as people complied, or that comparisons to the flu are a bit of a stretch.

Actually, their general position has aged very well and has been proven largely correct. They consistently recommended vaccination for the majority of people with perhaps a few very limited exceptions. You should listen to the follow up panel discussion in which noted infectious disease expert Dr. Monica Gandhi explains why mask mandates are bad policy.

https://peterattiamd.com/covid-part2/

https://profiles.ucsf.edu/monica.gandhi