quickly the antivaxxers and the like jumped on that narrative.
Most didn't though. There are far more of the people you call "anti-vaxxers and the like" in the "viruses don't exist at all" camp than screeching about "bioweapons". Plenty of others are like the others here who acknowledge SARS-Cov-2 might be made in a lab but it is pretty harmless.
The "Chinese bioweapon" narrative was always a mainstream narrative being allowed to exist quietly in the background so that it could be used to undermine the "virus is harmless" pushback, and justify lockdowns/vaccines/etc. You are just too naive to see it.
Most didn't though. There are far more of the people you call "anti-vaxxers and the like" in the "viruses don't exist at all" camp than screeching about "bioweapons". Plenty of others are like the others here who acknowledge SARS-Cov-2 might be made in a lab but it is pretty harmless. The "Chinese bioweapon" narrative was always a mainstream narrative being allowed to exist quietly in the background so that it could be used to undermine the "virus is harmless" pushback, and justify lockdowns/vaccines/etc. You are just too naive to see it.