That's only true if medical and technological advancements don't happen. A vaccine a year from now means less death if we've locked down in the meantime, compar

That's only true if medical and technological advancements don't happen. A vaccine a year from now means less death if we've locked down in the meantime, compared to if we haven't locked down. Similarly, if we scale up testing and contact tracing to the point we can eventually eradicate the disease through targeted quarantines, a preceding lockdown means less death. If instead we don't experience any advancements, then right, it just means the same number of infections are spread out over a longer period of time.