It's the difference between protecting people and protecting capital. For those of you who don't remember times immediately after 9/11, one of the biggest drivers of the security theater we still have today was the airline industry.
Airports were dead for months after 9/11, things were dire enough that the airlines and the government basically created the TSA as a marketing stunt. Covid just proves it was never about safety, it's just about protecting the means of capitalization.
Tbh, I think the vaccinations came out about 6 months too soon. If covid had gotten to the point where it was seriously threatening the capital class at a systemic level I think things would have been better in the long run. At very least there would be less geriatric assholes in control of Congress.