There are a lot of possibilities, and though one of them is "it was fake", it just doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

• We saw greater deaths than expected in the nursing homes during this period, pointing to it being a real virus -- which yes, do exist.

• Old and sick were not the only ones dying, just like old and sick are not the only ones who die from the flu or pneumonia.

• There is a possibility that it was meant to deal more damage than it did, and keeping us in our homes or masked were both methods to weaken our immune system, but we flaunted this by and large and shirked the mandates in one fashion or another, either by removing masks or getting out in the sunlight and not avoiding people, or both.

• There is a possibility that it was meant to deal more damage than it did, but the virus that was released was the "wrong" virus.

• There is a possibility that it was meant to deal more damage than it did, but relied on the vaccine as a mechanism to activate or otherwise enhance its effects

There are a ton of other possibilities too. But calling it fake is a losing argument for many reasons, not least of all is that we reach the goal of accountability faster if it wasn't fake, and the same people end up being held accountable for both scenarios.