The British answer to that is, we had Derek Draper - the very first notable political figure in Britain to contract COVID right at the very start of the pandemic.
No vaccine existed at the time. He spent months unable to walk or talk, had serial medical emergencies, and never recovered.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Draper
Bear in mind the British political establishment in March 2020 only had his specific case on its doorstep, and the convoys of body bags in Chinese streets, to assess how bad could things get if COVID spread in the UK like influenza or bubonic plague did.
Their assessment was, this could kill millions but leave even more people alive needing round the clock care for months or years.
At that time there was little evidence to suggest you could just have a COVID party with your friends and be over the worst of it in a week.
What exactly was in that stuff China was spraying all over the streets? Wanna bet it was experimental rather than disinfectant?