Every time I hear someone talk about life when a modicum of COVID concern existed in western countries it's basically them saying they're scared of coughing in public, not because they're scared of spreading COVID but because they don't want people to think they have COVID. It seems like the idea they might have COVID doesn't even enter the picture, at least initially. As well as other similar examples of their self-orientated lives.
Obviously most people dropping the masks as soon as possible as well as refusing to learn how to use them (or even what kind of masks in the first place) reveal this a bit as well. It seems, to me in my small social world at least, that the people around me literally only cared about themselves during the pandemic and how awkward it was for them. My existence isn't inside a particularly great slice of humanity though.
Even in left-ish spaces you see maybe a vocal minority of people who care, like some people on here, doing anti-COVID acts as part of a larger understanding of the world: either out of empathy or at least a greater self-interest in seeing society not crumble. But everyone else is basically only doing "good" so far as everyone else forces or allows them to.
Again, my world is pretty small but getting really tired of hearing saying "during COVID" in pass-tense around/to me as I wear a fucking mask in front of them. Haven't heard of any great empathy from people broadly. And the shallow bloomer excuses don't really convince me otherwise.
Imo the average person's view of the pandemic was/is mostly shaped by government propaganda, first that COVID was a threat to take seriously and later that COVID was over. If the government were broadcasting "hey by the way 50% of people who contract COVID experience symptoms past 18 months", I imagine we'd see less dipshits pretending it's not real.
That said, there's definitely an element of individual stubbornness. Most liberals I talked to just before mask requirements were removed would try to say some bullshit statement like "WELL WE CAN'T LIVE LIKE THIS FOREVER!", but when pressed on the fact that their lives weren't actually interrupted anymore with schools, workplaces, restaurants etc already open again, they would bashfully admit that they just didn't like wearing masks. At any rate, I certainly wouldn't lose any sleep if the people in my life who refuse to mask or test drowned in their own lung fluid tomorrow.