I'm not one of those downvote happy people and believe in civil discourse.

I think there were a lot of people that stayed home, which is why hospitals were so empty last year. However, numbers dropped significantly, so many people started going back, and we didn't have this problem. Once numbers picked up again, I suppose we had some of that, but the hospitals were much more available this time. I can't imagine how now, all of a sudden the hospitals are getting overwhelmed with non-covid patients as many of them are coming back. If they are scared as you say, then why now everyone together with the numbers (while decreasing) still elevated?

Due to weakened immune systems, many think that things like this will be an expected part of the vaccines. Time will tell. I just think if it was as simple as people waiting, and the press doing everything they can to steer away from anything negative on the vaccines, they would have been vocal that it isn't related and this is just a backlog.