during that period. Actually those data obscured the pattern to some degree. One of a few reliable data that we can look at is excess death in the past 2.5 years in Europe since they have have centralized data management system.
If we look at the excess death, SARS-2 death is no different than that of influenza death. If we combine excess death with those waves of SARS-2 in the past 2.5 years, it is pretty clear: Omicron, not the vaccines, stopped the deaths.
(But this BA.5 may be a different animal. It's said its infection can go lower in your respiratory system (lung). Let's see.)