rationality and logic were out the window with the constant bombardment of Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid.
24/7 doom and gloom was broadcast. This has to have activated a nocebo effect, where folks developed what they were told they would surely develop if they didn't harm themselves with isolation, masks, sanitizers, and fright. I was never afraid of covid. I think this is why the three times I had a flu like illness the past two years, I got over it easily. If you're going to trust anyone, make it yourself.
Anecdotal evidence: I had to get a death certificate for someone, who died at home without a doctor's diagnosis of what he died of. Getting the death certificate took two months, which is an inordinately long time. The reason I was given for this delay was that there were so many deaths requiring inquests (when someone dies from an unclear cause), that it was taking more than twice as long for the coroner to get all the inquests done. That was about six months ago.
We do need to learn how to think again, how to use our noggins to interpret the information, not simply operate on blind faith in the entities that stand to make billions of dollars on our faith in them and their products.