The alternative was what, exactly?
I'm not sure. In hindsight I think a lot of what happened was very heavy-handed.
Did we really need to close schools so long? Did we really need to shut down most forms of recreation?
Kids have repeatedly shown to not fare as bad with COVID as older adults. Does that mean kids couldn't see Granny? Well that's the reality we had back then, and are experiencing now because kids are all getting sick at the same time.