The governments / corporations could not care less about "protecting the elderly from Corona". They have privatized care that helped the same elderly from all kinds of even more prevalent conditions in the past.
In fact they tried to downplay it at first. Only after Italy's massacre they picked up, and that's for optics, as it became an "arms race" between governments. You can't seem standing when others do something. Plus it was a good chance to increase tech profits, make structural changes they wanted to make, and get a "great reset". And a lot of cushy opportunities for big tenders...
