Are lockdowns justified?

[Ranjr]

What is it that you doubt? Do you doubt people spend less time on the sun during a lockdown? Or do you doubt that spending less time on the sun makes you more susceptible to Vitamin D deficiency?

To me, that is enough evidence to consider the possibility that lockdowns are counter-productive because of leading to Vitamin D deficiency.

Masks work

They are probably around 20% effective, but it is hard to tell. First of all, we do not know for sure that COVID is not airborne. If it is airborne, then masks that are commonly worn have no effect. If it is not airborne, as it probably isn't, then how effective they are is a matter of social sciences, how people actually behave when they are forced to wear a mask. The most rigorous study about that done thus far, the Danish study, which involved 3000 people, had a statistical-significance-cut-off at 46%. They could not, with the massive funding they had, design a study which could detect effects larger than 46%. Of course, it failed to detect any effect of masks, as they are usually worn, on COVID-19.

So do lockdowns

It is very hard to tell. They definitely do not have a huge effect. The best predictor for COVID-related mortality across countries is life expectancy: higher the life expectancy, higher the deaths from COVID. Another good predictor is obesity of the population. And any real study about how much impact lockdowns have will be lumping good and bad policies together, leading to very misleading results.

You don't like the inconvenience of pandemic protocol.  That doesn't mean lockdowns and masks fail to reduce the spread.

That also doesn't mean they succeeded at reducing the spread

They do succeed at reducing the spread as shown in the linked studies.  If you wish to show that we can't draw conclusions, then don't draw conclusions.  When you say "they definitely do not have a huge effect", your not only making unsubstantiated claims, you're ignoring the term "significant."  They make significant differences which is very important in life saving measures. You need to show the misleading results if you want to affirm that claim.  You're also moving the goalposts.  You say lockdowns don't work.  I show they do.  Then you change the metric from infections to deaths.  Yes, underlying health conditions increase risk of death.  All the more reason to slow the spread.  Try making sense. 

And stop with the moon-eyed idealism.  Almost all policies are a mix of good and bad.  That's why you object to lockdowns.  You're inconvenienced.  Public health is more important than your desire to do as you please.  Grow up and get used to that.

I, for one, spent just as much if not more time outside over the past year.  As did many more.  You shouldn't pull conclusions out of your ass.  Many healthy people, including a triathlete, have died of covid.  There is a rise in young people requiring hospitalization.  It should be obvious that limiting contact between people limits the spread of the virus.  It is to most educated people.  If it's not to you, then, you are, again, seeking to rationalize your feelings.

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You're telling me that patients who spent weeks in ICU, slowly dying of a virus, showed a lack of vitamin D?  Tail, wag that dog.