When the mass vaccinations started alpha was already the dominant variant. When I was vaccinated it was clear that delta would matter most. So the vaccination for my age group was pretty pointless.
Also you didn’t cite a number of efficacy. Clicking through the many cases I come up with something less than 40% (protection against infection) within a year. If you compare that with the 97% for lifetime (measles) you can understand the disappointment of the people and why they don’t want to call it a vaccine.
The ancestral strain results were (naturally) also only of the kind: 95% protection for 3 months (or was the study period only 1 month?). Of course nobody could know for sure. But to many it was no surprise that the virus would escape any vaccine quickly just like the flu.
OTOH: From all data I saw, I agree that the vaccine improved the chances of survival of the elderly.