In my understanding at the time the lockdowns were strictly for reducing the spread of the virus to the point that the hospitalization rate didn't exceed our hospital beds. The lockdowns in Washington State were very effective at limiting the pressure on hospital resources early in the pandemic to the degree that the Army withdrew their temporary field hospital in Seattle and the hospital ship the Navy had originally stationed in Seattle was moved to California where the lockdowns weren't as widely followed. The two hospitals were stationed in March and withdrawn by May or June as I recall. And we wouldn't see any further backup in Washington for the rest of the pandemic.

Another thing that gets missed in these discussions is that Washington State was following the best data that they had, and you could watch it on the Department of Health's website. When cases started trending upwards they would wait for the hospitalization rate to trend upward and the bed count to reach a certain point and then ratchet down on the controls. When the trends reversed and fell below a certain point they would loosen the controls. It was very predictable what would happen next if you watched the DOH's website.

There was also a very gradual decoupling of the hospitalization rate from the case rate the first summer vaccinations were widespread, and that seemed to demonstrate that as a public health measure vaccination was very effective.